When Lila was first born back in August, we decided we were going to let her sleep in the pack and play next to our bed for a few months and then transition her to her bed in her room across the house. Of course she decided to be difficult (I wonder where she got that from) and HATED to be swaddled and didn't like to sleep on her back. Her doctor had scared me to death, telling me how SIDS is such a big issue and how she had to sleep on her back, but the only way Lila wanted to sleep was on her belly. So we did it anyway. Big no no, I still get yelled at about this at her appointments but oh well.
We have been lucky and not had to deal with Colic or anything close to that hell, in fact Lila has always liked sleep. I read somewhere in the beginning that breast milk digests a whole lot faster than formula so when she woke up every 2-3 hours at night I was ready and it was no biggie, she would eat and go back to sleep. The problem started when I was just too tired to stay awake for her to finish. So I would lay on my side and just let her feed until she was done and then we would sleep. This was magic by the way.
Enter the co-sleeping stage. Don't get me wrong, I love cuddling with my little booger, but I was not fully sleeping and it wasn't completely restful sleep for her either. My husband works his butt off so I was always trying to be careful and make sure he slept well which meant Lila and I ended in the guest bed or the couch. I was over it!!
Luckily, I had a few friends who had their babies within a month of me and I took to them asking for advice and what was and was not working for them. Now, every baby is different but I was willing to try anything. I tried a few with no real success. For a week and a half now, Lila has been eating 1 ounce of cereal (mixed with bm) once a day sometime between 2 and 7. Even though I feed on demand during the day, I started to feed her more often but for a shorter period.
This past week, Lila slept for 5 hours two different nights, and 6 hours on a third night. Then it happened, last night she slept for EIGHT AND A HALF hours!!!! Whoo hoo! It was amazing to get that much solid sleep in my bed, with my husband. When she woke up, she got to get in bed with me (it was 630 folks), eat, go back to sleep, and then cuddle with mommy. Talk about a perfect morning. Here is to praying this is a continuous thing, Mommy and Lila deserve it. :)
*Side note- I also put a small blanket under her mattress on one side since she likes to sleep on my chest.
