Sleep Style

Nights have been rough in the Merrigan household. For the first couple months Pierce did pretty well at night, considering he was only a couple months old. The first two weeks were rough while he had his days and nights mixed up, but after that I felt like he was doing well. Two nights before he turned two months old he slept 10 hours. I woke up terrified that something had happened to him. But he was perfectly fine, sleeping like my darling angel.

And then three months hit. His coughing was getting worse and was keeping him up at night, and he started fighting the whole going to bed process. We tried everything. We rocked him, and we sang, we walked with him, we swaddled him, we un-swaddled him, we had lavender and chamomile baths, we had a set routine, we tried different times, I tried baby massages, we had story time, we played calming music, we played white noise, I nursed before bed, I tried a bottle before bed, I even put chamomile tea in his bottle...aside from letting him cry it out, which I just don't have the heart to do, we tried everything and nothing was working. 

And then we went to Utah to see family and friends. 

I thought, a new environment with new people- this is going to be terrible. I was sure that he wasn't going to sleep at all. And at first he didn't. He didn't know the rooms; he didn't like his playyard, and this momma was drained. So, one night not knowing what else to do I brought him into our bed and had him lie there. Before I knew it he was fast asleep. I picked him up and I placed him in his playyard and he slept throughout the night. The next day I lied down on the couch with Pierce right next to me and he fell asleep. That night was kind of rough and after getting one hour of sleep I was in desperate need of help. My sister and grandma, being the saints they are, watched Pierce for me while I took a nap. My sister sat Pierce on her bed and again, fast asleep. Now was about the time when I started to think that we may be on to something. On our way home from Utah to Oregon we stayed in a hotel; when we got to our room we started unpacking our things and placed Pierce on the bed. I looked back and what would ya know...he fell asleep.

The day we got home from our trip was the day our new nighttime routine started. Now here's how our night time goes: one feeding, then we do his breathing treatment, next we change his diaper, put on lotion, get him in jammies and then the secret weapon- I take Pierce into our bedroom and lie him down on our bed. I remove all pillows, blankets and sheets that could hurt him, and place his blanket over him. Next, I grab his bedtime book, lie down next to him and read. 90% of the time within 15 minutes he's fast asleep. Sometimes I read and he's still not ready to sleep, so I just lie with him and cuddle until he calms down and falls asleep on his own. Then once he's asleep we move him from our bed into his co-sleeper. There's no rocking, no music, no swaddling, no chamomille tea...just momma and Pierce lying beside each other, forehead against forehead. 

Is it an odd routine? It's probably unconventional. Do people have their opinions on us letting him fall asleep in our bed? They sure do. But does it work for us? You bet it does. 

I dreaded nighttime. I knew it was going to be a fight getting him to sleep. But now I look forward to the moment when I get to lay on our bed, read him a bedtime story and just cuddle until he falls asleep. It's a much more positive experience for him and I think he really likes our nighttime routine too.