Precious Sleep

I think it's official.

Taylor is sleeping through the night.

By through the night, I mean from 8 pm til 7 am or around 11 hours. I have been keeping it a secret, because I was worried that if I talked about it, it would go away.

(You watch. Tonight she'll relapse.)

Let me first tell you that she's actually been sleeping awesome since about 8 weeks old.

From birth to 8 weeks she would only(mostly) sleep if I was holding her. She and I spent many nights on the couch with her on my chest. Then I started letting her sleep in bed with me after her late night feeding. That worked well. I am a fan of shared sleeping at that young age. It worked for me. (Now that she's older, it doesn't work as well. She moves and stirs too much in the night).

But anyways, back to 8 weeks old.

We would get her to sleep in our arms, and then we noticed she would wake up as soon as we set her down in the crib, so something had to give. We let her cry 30 minutes the first night. Then 20 minutes the 2nd night. And by the 3rd night, it only took 15 minutes. It was the most difficult thing ever to listen to her wail, but it was what she needed. Now she goes to sleep on her own when we put her down in the crib. Yes, she fusses some, but not really crying. That's just how she settles down, with a little fussing. So she always started the night in the crib. She would wake up 2 times a night to eat, but always immediately go back to sleep. (We still shared sleep at this point. She would snuggle up as soon as she finished eating. Loved it, but I didn't sleep well). Then around 3 months old, she gradually got to where she was only waking up 1 time a night, normally around 2 a.m or 4 a.m. Again she would go back to sleep after eating. I started putting her back in her crib instead of keeping her with me. She had a bit of a growth spurt at around 4 months where she was waking up 2 times again, but that only lasted a week and a half. Then she went back to waking once around 4 a.m. (technically that is sleeping through the night and I was quite satisfied). I was more than thankful for that sleeping pattern. Even though I had to wake up to feed her, it still felt like I got a full-nights sleep.

Then the wonderful happened. She started sleeping all the way til 8 am! Wowie wow wow! I didn't know what to think. I kept telling myself it wouldn't last. I would even pretend in my brain that I'd be waking up at 4 am to feed her. Because it's so hard once you get used to sleeping, only to have it taken away.

Then... the unthinkable happened.

(Imagine scary, suspenseful music playing. Dum...dum...dummmm)

A monster arrived. And it's name is Daylight Savings.

Daylight savings arrived with her ugly self and stole what we had worked so hard on.

Taylor could not get adjusted. Her feedings were all over the place. I feared the worst.

But, happy ending, she finally got it figured out after a few days. She now sleeps til 7, and that's all right with me. I can live with that.

Yay for sleeping through the night, baby Taylor! You are awesome!