Tuesday, April 19, 2011

On (not) sleeping babies and my super-ambivalence

So my beautiful 7 month old baby girl has decided to be extra clingy this week. I mean, she's been pretty clingy for the past few weeks, but for the past couple of days she won't even let me set her down. What's worse, she has decided to start waking up 3 times a night again and it's taken an hour to get her back down every time.

I'm tired. I'm frustrated. I'm completely braindead.

And I feel like a failure.

I'm snuggling with my completely healthy baby girl who loves me like crazy, and I feel like a failure.

I have read so many books and blogs and forums that tell me babies need a consistent nap schedule. I have no schedule. I've been told by experts, my doctor, and other moms that I need to let her fall asleep independently in her crib. I almost never do. My mother-in-law and Parents magazine tell me she should be sleeping through the night. She isn't.

And I want to stop listening. I want to say, leave me alone, I'm holding my baby and we're both just fine.

But I also want to get some rest.

1 comments:

Jaime {James and Jax blog} said...

Oh boy do I know how you feel! My son is 21 1/2 months old and still doesn't STTN except rarely. It's awful, and what's even worse is that other moms, books, tv shows, you name it, all pound into my head that he should be sleeping through the night and if he's not, it must be my fault. Oy.