I made the mistake of blogging or tweeting a while ago that Little Baby McSquidge had slept 6 hours in a row one night. Yeah. Jinxes are real and pounding on wood after the jinx is enacted will do you no good whatsoever. It may even wake the baby.
So now she’s on a decent schedule. She sleeps for 2.5-4 hours at a stretch all night long. I go into her room and feed her, fall asleep while she’s nursing, wake up 2 or three hours later with a crick in my neck, do the other side, fall asleep, put her in bed and then head to my bed just in time for her to wake up again. It hasn’t been particularly restful. Luckily Dan’s home on paternity leave so he does pretty much everything around the house that doesn’t require mammaries.
He’s going back to work in a few weeks though and I’ve been working towards getting some sort of restful sleep schedule going. I told Dan I needed to find a way to stay awake while feeding her so I could feed her, burp her, give her a new bum, and put her away in time to get some sleep before she woke up again.
His suggestion was that I watch movies while I nurse. We have a small TV and DVD player in the nursery for that purpose but I’ve been too lazy to bring up any movies. So last night, I looked through what we had, trying to find something that could keep me awake long enough to feed but wouldn’t hold my attention so completely that I couldn’t turn it off at any point and go back to bed when she’d finished eating me.
So I started the new cinematic nursing plan last night with the short Pride and Prejudice. It was a success I think. Each feeding lasted only one hour and I was only a little bit wound up when I got back into bed. I think it took me maybe 10 minutes longer to fall asleep after each feeding, what with the drama and romance and passion and such pumping through my veins. I think this is still better than drifting in and out of unrestful sleep while sitting upright in a rocking chair.
Today at naptime I finished off the movie. Maybe tonight I’ll give Colin Firth a go. Although I still consider the BBC adaptation to be the authoritative P&P, it is a bit more mind-numbing with its slow pacing and copious discussions of gowns, propriety and fortunes.
Whatever happens, I need to find a way to feel less zombie-like. Perhaps a year or so from now, I’ll magically find the solution…
Right now I am reading blogs on my iTouch while nursing my son for his middle of the night feeding. Posts are short enough I can stop and go back to bed when he is done yet interesting to keep me awake and fits in my hand so I can physically manage the task.
I did the watch shows thing with a DVR. It was perfect, all I had to do was hit the pause button and the TV show or movie waited for me to come back for the next nursing session. I’d vacillate between watching shows and taking the baby to bed with me, whichever made more sense and got me sleeping properly.
Argh, those neck cricks!
I did the DVD thing with both the boys. It was a great help…unless I started watching something suspensful that I hadn’t seen in a while. Then I’d just sit up watching. Not good.
And as for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, it’s a great read! You might want to pick up a copy of the book to read during daylight nursing sessions. I loved it!
I have long felt that I will have to read it eventually. I’ve resisted but I know my time is coming.
When you find that solution, let me know. I’m still feeling pretty zombified here.
Back in the day before high tech equipment, I sang hymns to my babies. It was peaceful for the little ones and kept me awake trying to come up with the next lyric while rocking and feeding. I liked to think I was feeding their spirits and bodies at the same time. We women are all about multi-tasking.
I was never very good at getting up to nurse my babies. They all ended up in bed with me so that I could nurse them with my eyes closed. Of course, having a baby in with me makes for lighter sleep on my part because I wake up fairly often to listen for breathing, and etc, but it really did help me sleep better too. Six kids later and it has been a tried and true method for me. I just nursed them until they went back to sleep, then pulled my shirt back down over my chest, and went back to sleep with the baby sleeping in the crook of my elbow. When I roll over, so does the baby (meaning I switch them to the other elbow). My arm keeps them from rolling off the bed or being rolled onto by Daddy.
Hmmm…I never once thought of the DVD thing…
Don’t laugh at me too much, but first, I put an old digital alarm clock on the dresser in the nursery. That way, I knew just how long it was taking for Tiny Princess to eat, and how long it had been once she finally drifted off to dreamland when done.
We also had placed a radio that had a CD player in it, and we put in a nice CD of instrumental lullabies from Disney. By the time she was old enough to hold a bottle on her own, I knew exactly how long I’d been in there, because I knew how long each song was…I could listen to the CD 1 1/2 times through at each feeding during a growth spurt, once other times…it was good.
I’m afraid if I were to watch TV, I’d never go back to sleep…I get too sucked into the movies…
OH! The other thing that worked for me was to get a little table next to the chair at reading height. I could get the baby settled, and actually read aloud to her…
Boy, I’m some sort of freak or something… 😀
Praying she’ll adjust quickly and start sleeping a bit longer for you in the coming weeks before Daddy goes back to work.
Wish I had some good non-addictive movie suggestions for you to roll into next. With my baby I tried reading a book (didn’t think of movies!), but by the time I/she was good enough at the nursing thing so I could have a hand free for the book, she was much quicker at eating and I didn’t have time to fall asleep anyway. Maybe next time I’ll be better coordinated, but probably not…
Have you seen the new P & P zombie book on Amazon? I thought that was what your post was going to be about….Sorry about the poor sleep schedule. I don’t know if I suffer from post-pardum or exhaustion but the first few months after my babies are born is pure misery for me.
I haven’t read it yet but given it’s popularity, the title just seemed obvious for this post. We’re actually having a lot of fun, sleep-deprived, white-knuckling-it fun.
I also thought you were going to discuss the pride and prejudice zombie book I have heard about. We almost read it for our October book club, but had second thoughts! But I still want to know if it is really funny or just dumb.
I haven’t read it but given it’s popularity, the title just seemed obvious for this post.
I may be strange (may, lol?!?) but I’ve always nursed my babies at night at the computer. Not to keep awake, but because I can. not. stand. doing only one thing at once. I’d just browse the web or play mindless games with the hand that wasn’t occupied feeding babe. At least in the early months, I was so zombie-fied anyway that it didn’t seem to stimulate my mind too much. By the time they’re 6+ months or so, it starts to be a problem that I’m too wide awake when I go back to bed. (Not that that stops me, mind you…)
Hope the movie solution works for you!
I just thought I’d finally say “hi”…I found your blog a couple years ago when I googled something to the effect of “detergent stains on khaki.” Next thing I knew, I was reading this hilarious post about you setting up for some kind of church event and some confusion about what “chargers” were. I wouldn’t have known either. I’ve read your posts fairly often since then (although i must confess that I missed nearly your entire pregnancy due to graduate school.) But today I was at Target and I saw a whole display of chargers and I decided to check in with you to see how things are going. I wish I had more to offer about this nursing situation–but my babies did sleep six hours in a row…please don’t hate me. We had other problems!
This was such a fun comment to get. I loved that post and it was fun remembering it with you. Thanks for checking in!
What with the hour-long nursing sessions and the fact that he wouldn’t sleep anywhere but in my arms, I watched a ton of Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman when my firstborn was a baby.
I bet that was a trip down memory lane… or was it mammary lane?
I still hold to the fact that ultra-girlie DVDs and BBC romances are the best way to go for baby shower gifts. No one ever thinks to get stuff for the mom, and new movies are always fun. Pride and Prejudice is a good option. You should check out some of the new BBC Dickens adaptations like Bleak House or Little Dorrit – they come in 1/2 hour segments and lasts about 7-8 hours total.
I swear by the movie “You’ve Got Mail” for late night lactating. Big fan of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” and “Bend It Like Beckham” as well.
Don’t knock the Bollywood adaptation till you’ve tried it too! “Bride and Prejudice” it’s a keeper.
How dare you incinerate that I haven’t seen and enjoyed the bollywood version!? What an insult. Your other suggestions are excellent as well.
I have movie memories with each of my children as newborns. With Nicknack I watched The Life Aquatic on DVD over and over and over during the night and Little House on the Prairie reruns in the early morning hours. With Bitsy it was Mr. Mom and the first seaon of Who’s the Boss DVDs.
Random. But I found watching the same things over and over, movies I liked and could pick up anywhere, worked well.
Also, I believe I once watched an LDS version of Pride & Prejudice – have you seen it? I’m not actually Mormon, but I love all things Pride & Prejudice. 🙂
Paternity leave! What an awesome thing. I wish my husband had taken more than a day off work for the birth of any of my 5 children. Enjoy it!
I watched the entire series of The Sopranos while nursing my first and Sex and the City w/ my second. I can only imagine what they learned! Best of luck! lisa
I watched the entire series of the Sopranos w/ my first and Sex and the City w/ my second. All in the middle of the night nursings. And some all day nursings too. I can only imagine what they learned! Anyway, big fan of the dvd thing while nursing here. best of luck to you! lisa