27 January, 2010

It's all just guesswork...

So Thomas has stopped sleeping through the night...We've tried putting it down to many things, reflux (tried Baby Gaviscon before bed - no dice), his stinky cold(s) which he has had since before Christmas (tried baby Karvol and he's getting better from his latest one now, still no dice), being extra hungry thanks to a growth spurt (but they should only last a few days and this has been going on for almost two weeks now)...Just being extra hungry? Maybe...but his mushed up food portions have been increased exponentially, and he's being fed until he looses interest...Teething starting? Well, his cheeks are quite red and hot, but there's no sign on any toothy pegs on his little gums quite yet...getting cold in the night time (nope, his room is definitely the warmest in the house)...The latest thing is worrying that we are filling his little tummy up with mushy food and he isn't getting enough of his primary source of fat and nutrients - his mum's milk...

It reached the point on the weekend, where we were just staring at each other, both at a complete loss as to what to do...his little routine that we were so comfortable with has simply dematerialised...nothing that our application of logic and "cause and effect" style attempts to "fix" the situation has worked and here we are facing the reality that there isn't anything left to do apart from just deal with it...and frankly that is very annoying...I like to live in a world where every problem has a solution, even if it's difficult to track down, but I'm rapidly starting to realise that bringing up a baby is just not going to work like that, the best advice in the world (in this case) is just conjecture, and really? No-one actually knows the answer, not the health visitors, not the doctors, not the NCT, not our friends and relatives, not the people at work who've had kids before and (horribly for someone with an analytical mind) least of all - me...

There isn't going to be a sleepsthrough=0 buried in a baby registry entry somewhere that I can find and change to 1...

2 comments:

Absolute Beginner said...

I know what you mean. Not knowing the answer is without doubt the hardest part about being a parent. The only thing that makes it any better is knowing it is the same for every one of us :)

-MR X- said...

Once you fall into the trap of thinking you've got the baby in a "routine" you've had it. They're gonna constantly change it to keep you on your toes.

But if he is waking up in the night, perhaps its time to reduce some of the day sleeps, knacker him more during the day and perhaps consider *gulp* some formula milk last thing at night ;-)

Good luck - it gets easier (honest!)

-MR X-