When I was a junior registrar my consultants often reassured us on birthing suite when things didn't turn out how we expected that Obstetrics was a very humbling career. As I have progressed through the ranks, I have come to really appreciate this. Just when I felt my skills were really becoming refined, there would be a hiccough. Not necessarily a bad outcome, but just a reminder not to get too cocky! Well, this week I have realised that being a mother is just the same.
Several times now we've been coasting along, with sleep all sorted and things just amazing, and then whoops, before we've even realised it, things have been turned upside down. This happened again this week, with my little Miss waking up before 5am several consecutive days and refusing to back to sleep. I tried all that I could think of- making sure dinner had protein in it to sustain her overnight, moving bedtime forward, moving it back, doing the early morning feed in the pitch black so she'd get the message that it was still the middle of the night, etc. Nothing was working. The usual routine here too, is that after a while of hearing us awake, Billie and Leroy start barking to remind me that it's walk time!
Well, thank god for the internet- on Wednesday I hopped online and checked out one of my favourite sleep resources; The Sleep Store (http://www.thesleepstore.com.au/). One of their articles referenced Tizzie Hall of Save our Sleep fame (http://www.saveoursleep.com.au/), so I downloaded the relevant chapter from her book and read it on my iPad! No need to leave the house to buy a book, I had the info within minutes! I had previously felt quite negative about these strict routine based books, but I must admit that Tizzie was right on the money! Her theory is that all babies are capable of sleeping 11-12 hours overnight and that there's no such thing as an early waker. Okay, I thought, be open to that possibility. Her experience has taught her that all waking around 4-5am is because of the baby being cold! She then went on to tell a story about an Australian family that she did a home visit on, who only used sleeping bags at night, thinking that was all that the baby needed! O dear, I thought, that sounds like us! She recommends a singlet, a grosuit, a sleeping bag and several cotton or bamboo sheets to tuck the baby in with, as well as the room kept around 20 degrees overnight. That shocked me, as a lot of the reading I've done around SIDS emphasises the importance of not letting your baby overheat. Anyhow, I thought I'd at least try to make the room a bit warmer and put her in an extra layer. Loose sheets in the bed still scare me. Well, it worked! The first time we tried, Amelia slept to 6.30am. I think it's been at least a month or two since she last slept that late! And then last night, we slept over at my Dad and Glenice's and even in a strange bed, in the room with me, in a room that was quite light, she slept to 6am. My relief, actually elation, is palpable! We solved the problem!!
However, and this brings me back to being humbled, how could I have not know that? I'm highly educated in the health field, have read several sleep books, and would like to think I operate in life with a high degree of common sense! How could something so simple have slipped under my radar!
Well, the good news is that we seem to be back on track, at least for now. And this comes just in time for our week down at Lorne and for the start of daylight savings (where 6am will become 7am- now that's a real treat!). So bring on some sunshine, the beach, long walks with my little family and lots of seafood. It'll be Amelia's first time crawling on sand- I can't wait to see her reaction.
Bye for now from the Humble Mum
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