When my daughter Rose was born in 2015, I was prepared for months of no sleep, walking around like a zombie, and just being generally exhausted for the foreseeable future. So when she started sleeping through the night (12+ hours!) at two months, I was thrilled that I wouldn’t have to worry about exhaustion.
Fast-forward to 2018 when my son Liam was born. I figured he wouldn’t sleep as well as Rose had as a baby, but part of me had hope. Liam had different plans.
Three months went by with multiple night wakings, and the time came to move him out of his bassinet. We tried putting him in his crib in his own room, but that wasn’t happening. We tried for a few nights and decided it was easier to keep him in our room.
And so began the months of cosleeping.
Every night, my husband and I would take turns sleeping with Liam while the other slept in the spare room. Liam woke between two and four times a night for the next few months. He also liked to snuggle, which was both sweet and disruptive. We did this for months, each of us getting decent sleep every other night and hardly spending any time together because we were so exhausted.
And then, one day when Liam was about seven months old, my husband decided on a whim to put Liam in his crib at bedtime. I was skeptical, but he slept through the night for the first time ever. He did it again the next night. It seemed too good to be true, but here we are with a 10-month-old baby who has slept at least 12 hours per night in his crib ever since.
Seven months with no sleep sucks, but I know there are many parents whose babies refuse to sleep through the night for longer. Serious kudos to you, mamas. If you’re going through this right now, you’re not alone, and yes, it WILL pass. Here are some things that helped me through these sleepless months.
Go to bed early! Sounds obvious, but it’s so tempting to stay up after the kids are in bed to enjoy some alone time. But I prioritized sleep, and it helped me get through this period. Some nights that meant I was going to bed at 7:30 or 8, and I rarely saw 9 p.m. Was it fun? No, but I was able to get through the next day much better than when I went to bed “late.”
Take it in turns. As I mentioned, my husband and I took it in turns to sleep with Liam. When we started this at around four months it was a serious game-changer for me. I hadn’t had uninterrupted sleep in months, and getting good shuteye every other night really helped me.
Don’t give up! If Ben hadn’t randomly put Liam in his crib that one night, we would probably still be dealing with the sleep issue. I didn’t have confidence that Liam could manage in his own crib all night, but it turns out he did just fine. Maybe if you try it, it won’t work for you, but it’s still a good idea to keep trying because one day that baby will sleep by him or herself!
Caffeinate. I never drank coffee until I had Liam. That changed as soon as I had to go back to work and act like an adult and make important decisions. I could probably ditch it at this point, but I grew to like the taste.
If you’re going through a bad sleeping phase, I hear you and I totally get it. Maybe you’ve tried all these solutions and they haven’t worked for you. But no matter what you try, remember that you will be fine, your baby will eventually sleep, and you will feel like a human being once more.
