One day last week, I was at my wit's end. I HAD it with Daniel not sleeping through the night coupled with his inability to get himself to sleep for naps during the day. Gary and I were upset at each other, yelling and basically taking our frustrations/lack of sleep out on one another and I even contemplated letting Daniel cry it out... fortunately for me, Gary had the wherewithall to say "I'm not going to let my son just cry", at which point he had been crying for less than 5 minutes but was have a complete and total nuclear meltdown. I was dreading bed time the next night when the most miraculous thing happened...
Daniel got himself to sleep. The next damn night! When "they" say that kids do milestones on their time, not a minute before and not for anyone else, no joke! I couldn't believe it. Gary had baby bed duty that night, which never happens, and he just put Daniel in his crib while he was still awake. In my previous entry, I raved about his success in learning how to roll over; now, rolling is one of his primary modes of transportation as he masters frog-jumping and learning how to crawl. This rolling, scooting, and generally talking to himself and his mobile was how he finally found himself mighty tired... and fell asleep. It was a miracle! Of course, every day is like one step forward/two steps back so some nights are like this, while some nights he'll nurse himself to sleep.
I definitely feel myself getting more sleep through the night despite persistent nocturnal feedings. I feel that sleep at night will be a come-and-go thing for us for many years to come; toddlers and preschoolers often come to their parents bed at night, sometimes through adolescents (I didn't, but my brother did for years). By the time Daniel is 3 or so, he will probably have a sibling, either brand new or on the way, so as it stands now, I am looking at a potential of not getting much sleep for the next 6 years or more.
And people wondering I say "I don't know" when they ask me when we're going to have number 2...
