Battle for Sleep

There are certain fears shared between most expecting parents.  Common favorites include apocolypse-rivalring diaper blow-outs, projectile spit-ups, and fussy eaters.  However, quite possibly the most dreaded... 

... the sleepless baby.

Leon has many great qualities.  He is a generally happy, healthy, and mild-tempered baby.  In many ways, we have been incredibly blessed.  However, when it comes to sleep...

...there is much to be desired.

Leon has yet to sleep through the night. We have been waging (and losing) the Battle for Sleep since day 1.  The moment we think we are making some strides on the sleep front, Leon throws us a curve ball.

Over his first month, he declared a sleep strike on every proposed option.  He rejected his crib, pack and play, and finally bassinet.  No amount of swaddling, rocking, or soothing could convince this child that these were places of rest.  He had no problem loudly announcing his disapproval to the entire neighborhood.

Although there has been much improvement since then, Leon still will not go more than a 3-4 hour stretch without waking up.  A horde of helpers have gotten involved to offer possible theories about his sleep resistance. Offered theories include room temperature, fan speed, diaper size, security object, room location, noises... alignment of the stars.  But, when it comes down to it...

... my son just likes to eat more than sleep.

We have discovered 2 saving graces to fight the food vs sleep battle, hoping to lull Leon into believing shut-eye is better than (multiple) midnight snacks:

(1) The Swing: Although Leon still will wake up every few hours, he loves his swing.  Daily naps have been much improved.  This child loves motion... maybe because it distracts him from his emptying belly

(2) The Taco:

My friend, Cassie, introduced me to this wonder.  Fisher Price's Rock and Play sleeper.  It is shaped similarly to his swing, giving him that swaddled feeling. Like a taco, it easily folds up.  We have brought this everywhere with us, particularly when visiting friends, as our go-to portable sleeper.  We have kept this in our room, where he has at least somewhat maintained the same sleeping schedule. Again, although not sleeping through the night his schedule looks more like this...

Sleep at 8PM with awakenings at 10PM, 12AM, 3AM, and 5AM

...vs...

Sleep at 8PM with awakenings at 9PM, 9:30PM, 10PM, 10:15PM, 10:30PM, 11:30PM, 11:45PM, 12AM, 12:15AM, 12:45AM, 1AM, 1:30AM, 2:30AM, 2:45AM, 3AM, 3:15AM, 3:45AM, 4AM, 4:30AM, 5AM

Literally, these have been our two saving graces in the fog of the battle for sleep.

However, this week, the game has again changed...

... and we have an escape artist on our hands.

This weekend marked our transition to the crib, which somehow has been going better for the first time around.  Fewer tears (from mommy as well as Leon).  And, I am getting the funny feeling that he may even be starting to like the crib.

Although the nightly awakenings haven't changed much yet, I think (fingers crossed) the tides may be turning.  For now, the score is Mommy 0.5 vs Leon 137.5