Tom, Jess & Eloise: I ♥ Sleep and hopefully Eloise will too...

I've been missing a lot of sleep lately. I realize this is to be expected with a new baby but usually by 11 weeks most babies are beginning to stretch out to longer and longer sleep periods. Eloise started doing this around 2 months and we had a few good nights in a row of a 5 hour stretch between feedings. Things seemed to unravel after that and I felt like we were moving backwards in progress. As a last resort earlier in the week, I dragged her massive swing up the stairs and into her bedroom at 12:30am so she would sleep there and I could sleep in my bed. It worked for one night but it didn't work for the second night and I knew I had to find another way. I've been doing a lot of reading about sleep and the thing that really frustrated me was that I consistently read that from birth to 2 months one should do whatever it takes to get your baby to sleep. Check. Then at 4 months if your baby is still not sleeping longer periods, they are developed enough to let them "cry it out". Okay...but what about the time between 2 and 4 months?? They're not developed enough to leave them awake and crying in the crib but they are starting to know their surroundings so it's important to be establishing good routines and habits, like sleeping in the crib! I was not comfortable with this gray area, couldn't someone just spell out step by step what I needed to do? And can a person go crazy from not having any REM sleep for long periods of time? I'm almost positive I haven't had REM sleep since November 2nd, 2009.

I met my friend Nicole for a little mall walking this week (yep, I said mall walking and it was surprisingly refreshing) and we shared our baby sleeping trouble. I have to just say, thank goodness someone else has a baby about the same age that is NOT sleeping through the night. Lately it seems like everyone I talk to has babies sleeping for long periods of time at younger ages than Eloise. My mom even pulled out my baby book and I was sleeping through the night at 2 months of age! I was actually annoyed of my baby self for doing that.

So anyhow, Nicole mentioned a phrase "sleep begets more sleep" that is commonly used amongst the baby sleep books. I've heard it before but right then something clicked in my head and the wheels started turning. They are very slow wheels due to lack of sleep, but they were turning. To make this long story a wee bit shorter I'll summarize. Every child is different, but I think I finally figured out some key things I need to do that work for Eloise to make sure she gets the sleep she needs. So last night with my newfound confidence, I had a really good feeling that Eloise would have a decent night's sleep (and by Eloise having a decent night sleep, mom has a decent night's sleep). Drumroll please........things were MUCH improved versus these past two weeks and I think it will keep getting better if I can keep up the routine. The biggest problem now, I was so excited that I found the key to Eloise's sleep that I couldn't sleep. I'm sure I'll get over that shortly.

Eloise has been a social butterfly lately and made some new friends! The first cutie-pie is little Sophie Eibon. She is almost 5 months old and Eloise's sleep mentor. Currently Sophie sleeps from 7:30pm - 5:30am.

Trying to hold hands but looking like a fist bump.

Cutie-pie number two is 3 week old Allie Carr. She is so precious and I know everyone says it, but was Eloise really that small only 7 weeks ago????

Ellie and Allie weighed almost the exact same at birth so it is really mind blowing to see how much Eloise has grown. She kind of looks like a monster-baby next to Allie.

Besides play dates, Eloise has been trying to set a record for attending the most baby showers ever. She is currently at 4 and will potentially be at 5 by the time she is 3 months old. Luckily she is still at the age that she behaves pretty well in a crowd which is good because it's so much easier to bring her along. (and lucky for me all of the hosts and mamas-to-be have been very accommodating with Eloise tagging along).

Ellie has also been working on her neck and head strength. She doesn't really like tummy time but putting her on the boppy pillow and placing a mirror in front of her usually gets a few no-cry minutes!

Yes, she has the bald stripe on the back of her head and no, I definitely do not neglect my baby and leave her lying down all day long :)