BY JILL WOOLFORD

Thursday 7 January 2010

sleeping through - night 1

so last night i decided enough was enough and imogen was not going to keep getting me up twice a night for feeds! she managed to sleep through at 10 weeks so she should manage at 5 months! i am determined, resolved and down right stubborn enough to see this through! yey! go me!

this morning i am a complete wreck! imogen has inherited her mothers stubborn streak and was not about to give up easily! she kicked, she screamed, she moaned and she groaned! this was going to take all my strength but i was not about to give up! the advice i was given was to try her on water instead of a feed, there is no way she should be hungry after the amount she eats during the day. she has just got into a bad habit and the cycle needs breaking. i thought this was a sensible suggestion and at this stage im willing to try anything, though i know it is not going to be easy!

at half one the monitor goes crazy and i go to pick her up. she starts opening and closing her mouth like a goldfish on speed "feed me feed me feed me feed me feed me feed me!" i give her the bottle and she guzzles away without so much as a blink. then the realisation hits her, the bottle gets spat out and she looks at me with these accusing eyes, 'what the hell is this????' i calmly put the teat back in her mouth and explain that there will be no more milk, just water at night from now on. the answer i get is a long high pitched scream. this is a new sound, the stuff horror films are made of and if it hadn't been half one in the morning i would have probably burst out laughing! but then, it starts, this is not the time for laughter! begin the battle of wills, mother against daughter, the race to the end, the test to see who really is the boss!

we soothe, we rock, we cuddle, we soothe, we rock, we cuddle and eventually after two hours mummy starts to win. her eyes begin to droop, the screams become a murmur and slowly she begins to drop off! wahoo! super mum strikes again! wrapped up nice and cosy, snoring away contentedly. imogen is now in her cot and i am slinking back into bed with a sigh of relief that could have blown over a building. smiling away and congratulating myself on being the conquering hero i drop off into a self satisfied sleep. should i really be so pleased with myself that i won a battle with a 5 month old child?

too soon bleary eyes squint at the clock. the grin i fell asleep wearing disappears as i realise it is now quarter past four. three quarters of an hour! is that all i get? so much for the conquering hero mum. shuffling my way down the corridor i pick her up and offer the water. the look i receive is of pure disgust! i can hear the thoughts travelling through her brain, 'is this woman insane? trying to poison me? or even worse, attempting to get her own way? hah! well i will be putting a stop to this!' cue the high pitched scream, the thrashing of the arms and the kicking legs! WE ARE NOT AMUSED!

this time however, tiredness takes over quickly and within the hour i am back in bed and enjoying the silence. nice try imogen, you are a worthy opponent. get some sleep, round two tomorrow night.

2 comments:

  1. Oh blimey, this brings back memories. I am so glad I'm through it. Hope you get some sleep tonight!!

    CJ xx

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