I’ve heard that when a baby starts teething, it interrupts their sleep pattern. So do many other life changes – like new milestones reached.
Now I can’t tell if Doyle has started teething yet (I can’t see or feel teeth in his mouth), but he certainly loves his dummy a lot more now, and he’s no longer sleeping through the night. I’m up at least twice a night now. I’m managing okay at the moment but if he keeps up this pattern long enough, I’m going to be completely worn out again, and trying to get naps when he does during the day. Sometimes it feels like he sleeps more then than at night.
I can’t help but wonder if, when I feed him during these night-time wakes, he’s actually hungry or just needs the breast to settle himself. If he’s hungry, should I start giving him solids? I’ve just spoken to a community health nurse and she says yes.
My other concern was perhaps the dummy – maybe this is the reason he can’t get back to sleep himself, as he’s lost the dummy and can’t find it. He never had to worry about it before. So what if I just use the dummy in the day, and put him to bed at night without the dummy? The community health nurse said Ngala would tell me to lose the dummy all together. I feel that it helps him sleep through the day, but probably not so much through the night.
This change is going to take a few nights to try and fix, I think, but I don’t think I can cope with not sleeping right through the night again for much longer.
Dominica May 