Long post ahead... scroll down if you just want the pictures :)
As many of you know, Isla has always struggled with her sleep. As a newborn, she was nursing every 30-45 minutes ALL NIGHT LONG. As she got older, her time between wakings only increased a little. At 4 months old, we sought help from our pediatrician and a sleep consultant (yes, that's a real job!). Isla was waking every 30 minutes to 1.5 hours most nights. We were exhausted and didn't know what else to do. The sleep consultant got us to move Isla to her own room, get her out of her swaddle, stop "nursing to sleep" before bedtime, and established a nighttime routine with us (including the perfect sleeping environment... black out curtains, true white noise, right temperature, etc.). But she was still waking a few times a night. This continued for a few more months.
Finally at 7 months, we decided to try the cry-it-out sleep method. We had tried 3 other gentler methods and none of them had worked. The cry-it-out method is basically where you say goodnight, shut the door, and don't return until morning. I had to spend about a week night-weaning her and then we did it. When I was pregnant, I did a lot of reading on sleep and I swore I would NEVER do CIO, but when you're 7 months in and extremely exhausted, you just don't care. So we did it for 2 weeks straight. The first few nights were brutal. She cried and cried and cried. Eventually after 2 weeks, she was only waking up once a night. Once she would wake, she would cry until morning. So our pediatrician suggested we feed so she could sleep until morning. This worked fine for a few weeks and then we traveled.
We had an out of state wedding and mini vacation. During that trip Isla started teething, caught a nasty cold, and had trouble in the new sleeping environment at the hotel. That was in May. Since then, it's been back to no sleep! We tried the CIO method again for 8 days. Whenever she woke up, she would cry until morning. It didn't matter if it was 4:00 or 1:00 or 6:00. She would cry until we got her. One night she woke up at midnight and cried until 6:00. I stayed up the whole night to watch her on the monitor. She did not stop even once to take a break. She cried the entire time.
So a little over a week ago we went to see a pediatric sleep specialist. Our doctor and sleep consultant both had mentioned there might be an underlying cause to these sleep issues. Apparently 99% of babies will sleep through the night after 14 days of cry-it-out. And the 1% that don't usually have some medical reason that they don't. So we waited two months to see this guy. Michael and I were not impressed. We felt that he didn't listen to the whole history and quickly told us that her circadian rhythm is off from the trip back in May. He prescribed triple the recommended amount of melatonin in hopes of getting her cycle back to where it should be. He also ordered some blood draws to check a few levels, just to make sure that isn't the issue.
Well, we are 7 days in to our melatonin adventure and it's a nightmare. We aren't even giving her the amount he suggested and it's still not going well. She usually wakes up every 2 or 3 hours and then gets up for the day between 4:30 and 5:00. When she gets up this early, it sets our whole day off. It pushes her first nap up (because she can't make it to 9:00 without becoming a monster), which then affects her second nap and bedtime. We are in a vicious cycle now of terrible sleep. She has always been a great napper and now even those are messed up! I'm hoping to hear back about her blood results today.
I don't know if you've ever been sleep deprived, but if you have I'm sure you understand how miserable we are. We both just feel tired and so helpless. We are going on almost a year of sleepless nights. Isla has only slept through the night ONE time in the last year (it was after her time in the hospital where she hadn't slept in a day). Some nights are ok and we feel pretty good the next day. I can't even imagine how much better of a mom I could be if I was getting a full night's rest. Our sleep deprivation often affects our marriage, our parenting, and our lives in general. We find ourselves apologizing A LOT more to each other because our patience is so thin and our moods are not the best. That's been a whole new challenge in and of itself (that's why our date nights are so sacred right now!).
Anyway, that's where we are. We are hoping to get to the bottom of this. We would love for Isla to get the best rest she can so she is happy, healthy, and growing! We would like sleep too. If you think of us, we'd love a little prayer for our sweet baby to get some quality rest.
As many of you know, Isla has always struggled with her sleep. As a newborn, she was nursing every 30-45 minutes ALL NIGHT LONG. As she got older, her time between wakings only increased a little. At 4 months old, we sought help from our pediatrician and a sleep consultant (yes, that's a real job!). Isla was waking every 30 minutes to 1.5 hours most nights. We were exhausted and didn't know what else to do. The sleep consultant got us to move Isla to her own room, get her out of her swaddle, stop "nursing to sleep" before bedtime, and established a nighttime routine with us (including the perfect sleeping environment... black out curtains, true white noise, right temperature, etc.). But she was still waking a few times a night. This continued for a few more months.
Finally at 7 months, we decided to try the cry-it-out sleep method. We had tried 3 other gentler methods and none of them had worked. The cry-it-out method is basically where you say goodnight, shut the door, and don't return until morning. I had to spend about a week night-weaning her and then we did it. When I was pregnant, I did a lot of reading on sleep and I swore I would NEVER do CIO, but when you're 7 months in and extremely exhausted, you just don't care. So we did it for 2 weeks straight. The first few nights were brutal. She cried and cried and cried. Eventually after 2 weeks, she was only waking up once a night. Once she would wake, she would cry until morning. So our pediatrician suggested we feed so she could sleep until morning. This worked fine for a few weeks and then we traveled.
We had an out of state wedding and mini vacation. During that trip Isla started teething, caught a nasty cold, and had trouble in the new sleeping environment at the hotel. That was in May. Since then, it's been back to no sleep! We tried the CIO method again for 8 days. Whenever she woke up, she would cry until morning. It didn't matter if it was 4:00 or 1:00 or 6:00. She would cry until we got her. One night she woke up at midnight and cried until 6:00. I stayed up the whole night to watch her on the monitor. She did not stop even once to take a break. She cried the entire time.
So a little over a week ago we went to see a pediatric sleep specialist. Our doctor and sleep consultant both had mentioned there might be an underlying cause to these sleep issues. Apparently 99% of babies will sleep through the night after 14 days of cry-it-out. And the 1% that don't usually have some medical reason that they don't. So we waited two months to see this guy. Michael and I were not impressed. We felt that he didn't listen to the whole history and quickly told us that her circadian rhythm is off from the trip back in May. He prescribed triple the recommended amount of melatonin in hopes of getting her cycle back to where it should be. He also ordered some blood draws to check a few levels, just to make sure that isn't the issue.
Well, we are 7 days in to our melatonin adventure and it's a nightmare. We aren't even giving her the amount he suggested and it's still not going well. She usually wakes up every 2 or 3 hours and then gets up for the day between 4:30 and 5:00. When she gets up this early, it sets our whole day off. It pushes her first nap up (because she can't make it to 9:00 without becoming a monster), which then affects her second nap and bedtime. We are in a vicious cycle now of terrible sleep. She has always been a great napper and now even those are messed up! I'm hoping to hear back about her blood results today.
I don't know if you've ever been sleep deprived, but if you have I'm sure you understand how miserable we are. We both just feel tired and so helpless. We are going on almost a year of sleepless nights. Isla has only slept through the night ONE time in the last year (it was after her time in the hospital where she hadn't slept in a day). Some nights are ok and we feel pretty good the next day. I can't even imagine how much better of a mom I could be if I was getting a full night's rest. Our sleep deprivation often affects our marriage, our parenting, and our lives in general. We find ourselves apologizing A LOT more to each other because our patience is so thin and our moods are not the best. That's been a whole new challenge in and of itself (that's why our date nights are so sacred right now!).
Anyway, that's where we are. We are hoping to get to the bottom of this. We would love for Isla to get the best rest she can so she is happy, healthy, and growing! We would like sleep too. If you think of us, we'd love a little prayer for our sweet baby to get some quality rest.
At least her cuteness makes up for it :) Check out some recent pictures!
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