Thursday, July 22, 2010

PJs

This is the story of Riker and his pajamas.
Riker has been sleeping through the night since he was 6 weeks old.
This made me really happy.
I enjoy sleeping at night.
When we came to Arizona, Riker had little trouble adjusting to the time difference.
He was sleeping just fine.
One night, Riker woke up crying and screaming.
His little body was overheated.
Arizona is really hot in the summer.
So we cranked the ac down and Riker started going to bed in just his diaper.
Our uninterrupted nights continued once again.
Then, just last week, Riker woke up around midnight...crying.
I pick him up, comfort him, he falls right back to sleep.
Repeat at 2am and 4am.
I thought, "Surely this is a fluke.
I bet tomorrow night he will sleep just fine."
Unfortunately for me and my REM cycle,
Riker did the same thing the next night...
and the night after that...
and the night after that!
After three straight nights of this odd behavior, I googled.
When in doubt, always google.
Google holds the answers to all of life's questions.
I found various suggestions as to why my baby,
who is normally a champion sleeper,
is suddenly waking up all night long.
Some said teething...
Riker drools a lot, but no sign of teeth yet.
Some said changes in diet...
Riker hearts his rice cereal and baby food, so this can't be it.
Some said the baby might be cold...
hm.
Well, we have the ac running, plus a fan,
and I usually pull the blanket over me because I'm getting chilly.
Hey, maybe my baby is cold and that's why he's waking up!
So I grabbed some jammies and put them on Riker.
And guess what!
He slept through the night without waking me up!
Two nights in a row...uninterrupted sleep.
Bliss.
Unfortunately, Riker woke up again last night.
Twice.
Moral of the story:
I have no clue what my baby's problem is.
But I'm tired.

2 comments:

The Jolley Family said...

It sounds like it could be teething. With Bella, she started drooling like crazy but the teeth didn't come in until way later. I heard that the teeth shift around a little while still in the gums. I'm not sure if that is true or not but thought I'd pass it on anyway. Good luck!

Jessica/Patrick said...

OK, I promise I'm not a creeper, but I was blog hopping the other day and came across your blog. I noticed that your little boy is a day older then my little boy Preston (www.preston365.blogspot.com) and then read about Riker's sleep issues. When we took Preston for his 6mo checkup a few weeks ago the doctor warned us that a lot of babies at 6 months who have previously been sleeping through the night are now waking up at night. He said it had something to do with the REM cycle, and how that's changing for them. He suggested if that happens for us (which thankfully it hasn't yet b/c I do love my sleep) to put some child friendly soft toy in his crib like a stuffed animal or blanket that can comfort him when he wakes up during the night b/c sometimes they can have separating anxiety when they wake up and don't see anyone around. But he said eventually they learn to put themselves back to sleep upon waking up and the problem resolves itself.
I just didn't want you to think that you were doing anything wrong or different or worry that something was wrong...I know how that can be!