Dear Sandman - More Sand

Shortly after settling into her new home Frances started to sleep for five hours straight. Every night. Then she began sleeping six hours straight and seven. Things were going from good to better ... holy was parenting ever a breeze. Whenever someone asked how she slept I always emphasized how lucky and grateful I felt to have this seemingly born-to-sleep baby. Surely my gratitude would ward off any evil anti-sleep demons.

About a month ago everything changed. Instead of waking up once a night to nurse she began to wake up twice a night and then three times and four times. Now she goes to bed at eleven, like always, and I can count on her to wake up at two, four, six and eight. Sometimes she'll only nurse for ten minutes, other times for an hour.

Four weeks in and I feel like a zombie. It takes every ounce of energy to get through the day and that's without getting anything done. Despite this change in her nighttime sleep her daytime routine remains the same so sleeping (or cleaning or cooking or knitting or reading or blogging) when she sleeps (bordering on never) isn't an option. Oh right - the subtitle of this post is Woe Is I.

We're not alone though. Google has stories of hundreds of other parents enduring similar sleepless nights. The commonness of it all sometimes makes me feel better. Then I read the pleas of parents with toddlers still waking at these awful intervals and I want to crawl into the basement and lock myself in the drier.

These last few days R has almost had me convinced to let her try crying it out. Almost. It's not just that I hate the sound of her crying it's the thought of her crying in agony and sadness and fear ... for hours. I know that the Cry-It-Out method has worked for many but I also know my tolerance for a three month old wailing like she's on fire is about zero. Sorry Mr. Ferber.

Today we picked up The No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley - a basket in which I am placing a great deal of eggs. The online reviews are great. It positions itself as a Third Way - an alternative to crying-it-out and parental martyrdom. It's definitely not a quick fix and I have no illusions about sleeping in tomorrow morning. Most reviewers found it took at least three weeks of consistent effort and thats after getting through its nearly three hundred pages. But I am game. Fully and completely. Tonight while she takes her usual hour and a half to fall asleep I'll be highlighting and underlining like a madperson.