Sleep: The missing element

Last night was the worst night in recent memory, with regard to sleep. At just past four months, Anna has still been sleeping in her bassinet, next to Lisa's side of the bed. This made night time feedings a little less problematic for Lisa, and we assumed that having us near gave Anna a little added security.

Tonight we are trying something else.

Last night, we put Anna down at her usual 7 o'clock, give or take 20 minutes, and unlike most evening, she did not wake up crying 45 minutes to an hour later. I predicted that this would make for a good night's sleep for all of us.

Instead, when I went to bed at 11, Lisa had already placed Anna beside her. Our thought was that she slept better with us. Shortly after I showed up, she began her muted cries and whimpers, which it seems are her way of getting herself back to sleep. Whether it helps her or not, it's very hard to endure. By 1:30am, I burst out with some expletives, saying, essentially that I was going mad. Lisa encouraged me to go into the other room, but I was determined to help get her to sleep. Fifteen minutes later, I relented, but I was too upset to sleep for almost another hour and the guilt of leaving Lisa alone with Anna bore a hole in my gut.

I got up when Anna did and let Lisa get a little more sleep. All told, I had about 4.5-5 hours of sleep. I tried to help our mood by making light, but we both understood that this is very upsetting and agreed to try something, anything else. I did suggest that perhaps a timeshare arrangement with another parent/parents might be a good idea.

Tonight we put her in her crib in her own room, but she woke up 20 minutes after Lisa put her down and could not be calmed while laying down. We went back to the 'miracle' blanket the second attempt and switched her back to her bassinet, hoping that would prove a bit more familiar and comforting. So far, she and Lisa have been asleep in separate rooms for an hour and a half.

Anyway, since I don't know what else lies ahead, I'm off to bed, too. Wish us luck!

This photo is of Anna at 4 months, sitting on her mother's lap.