1) For your own sanity, quit looking for a pattern. Oh, you will find them, I assure you. You'll be excited when you do. And then BAM. Pattern changes! Time to start over. Or you could just not start in the first place (Disclaimer: I do make sure she at least tries for a nap every 90 minutes throughout the day or else we have a very cranky baby on our hands.)
2) Baby's sleep changes. A lot. And frequently. Julia slept through the night when she was 10 weeks old and I was all "SCORE. MY BABY IS THE FREAKING BOMB." She did that for all of a month and is now back to getting up several times a night. From what I understand, there is so much going on with her in her development it's impossible for it to not interrupt her sleep. Take last night (or this morning I suppose) for example. We spent an hour going through the cycle of her rolling onto her stomach, crying, me helping her back over and calming her, climbing back in bed, and then juuuuust when I started falling asleep again she'd roll back over. Fun times, I tell you, fun times. Plus, I think all that brain cell reproduction is making her hungry all the time (it's tough being so exceptionally intelligent) so she's been eating a lot more recently, which includes bottles in the middle of the night. Jeff and I split these responsibilities evenly which is very helpful. I give mad props to moms who breastfeed and have no choice but to get up with their babies.
3) Your value as a parent cannot be measured by when your kid sleeps through the night. Some babies do it at 3 weeks. Some do it at 9 months. It's not you. It's the baby. They all have different needs. I firmly believe you just have to do what is best for your baby. Now, there are plenty of books and blogs about methods of sleep training. By all means, you can go that route. They have value and they work. In my opinion though, you can only exercise a certain level of control over an infant. When they have needs that must be met, they will ensure they are met when they want them to be met. If my kid is hungry at 4am, so be it. But that's me. To each, her own.
Like I said, I've decided not to sleep train. This typically involves at some level letting your kid cry for a certain period of time. Not interested. Julia is doing a great job of teaching herself to sleep so I'm going to let her keep at it in her own way without forcing her to do something she's not ready for. It's not hurting her to get up in the middle of the night. It's just making her dad and I very sleepy at work. But I think there is value in allowing her to find her own way, so I'm willing to do that.
For example, I always rocked her to sleep. It was my favorite part of the day. Suddenly in the past week, she doesn't want to be rocked anymore. I just lay her down in her crib after her bottle and she puts herself to sleep. On one hand, I'm sad because she doesn't want to fall asleep on me anymore. Hands down, holding a sleeping baby is the best. I'll miss that. But on the other hand, I'm super proud of how independent she is becoming and how she makes her own decisions.
I always want to encourage my daughter to do things in her own way, in her own time, on her own. Sleeping is no exception. And just because she's 5 months old doesn't mean she's not capable of thinking for herself. I respect my daughter and want to give her this opportunity. Does that mean I might not "sleep through the night" for awhile? Perhaps. But I think the end justifies the means.
"Ok, now how to I get back over?"
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