Ever has always been a sleep fighter from day one. I've always dreaded nap time because it's never been peaceful, it's always a struggle getting this kid to sleep.
"Is she sleeping through the night?"
That question. It seems to be the go-to question, in my little experience. And I've always felt a little bit of shame when my answer is always "no." And then I feel like I have to justify it with, "we cosleep," or "she just wants to nurse all night." Not that either of those things justifies it. And it took me a while to realize that there's nothing wrong with the fact that she doesn't sleep through the night. In fact, it's completely normal. 90% of the moms I talk to are going through the same sleep deprivation as me, even with babies almost or at a year old. Getting baby to sleep through the night will definitely have it's perks, the best one being that I too will be able to sleep through the night. But, because Ever is such a sleep fighter, we've been putting off sleep training.
When Ever was about 7-8 months old, we were researching different sleep training methods. And I learned that Ever is an energy-increaser when it comes to crying. What that means is that the more she cries, the more upset she gets, so if we were to try a crying method of sleep training, it simply wouldn't work. Some babies are energy-releasers, meaning they release energy when they cry and will fall asleep.
So because all these methods seemed like a lot of work, and I knew that I would be losing a lot of sleep trying to stick with it to get it done, I decided to put it off. And, honestly, I'm fine with our current situation for the most part. Ever sleeps between Jesse and I and when she wakes up she wants to be comforted back to sleep by nursing. Then, we both fall back asleep together and neither of us lose much sleep.
However, she is getting too dependent on nursing, in my opinion. She's gotten to the point where Jesse can't put her back to sleep when she wakes up because all she wants is milk. She doesn't want to be awake. She wants to be comforted back to sleep by me and my boobs.
So because of this, I feel trapped. Like I can never have some downtime. And I'd like to sleep on my belly rather than on my side with my back arched and boob in a child's mouth all night.
We started introducing a comfort object. Our goal is that she'll get attached to it and when we start sleep training, she'll use it to soothe herself back to sleep. But, sleep training is pointless if she's not night weaned. So not really sure how we're gonna do that yet.
Ever's cute pjs are from Finn + Emma. They're organic and sooo soft. I wish they came in my size..
