Up and down the stairs

I'm feeling much better now. Having struggled on for a few more days with the cold, I ended up speaking to one of my new fellow pram pushing friends, who happens to also be a ear nose and throat surgeon (a handy person to know.) I mentioned that the pharmacist had recommended, um, nothing. My friend rolled her eyes and told me that certain topical decongestents were OK, and to toodle myself forthwith to get a nasal spray. Which I duly did and pretty much immediately felt a lot better.

The recovery comes in the nick of time because the ongoing sleep weirdness combined with illness was becoming a complete ass-kicker. Last night went like this:

• 10pm- Botany grizzles herself half awake. I go ahead and dreamfeed her.
• 1am- Botany grizzling over the monitor. I leave her for 10 minutes, then go downstairs to try to settle her. She thrashes around while nursing, so I pick her up and she belches hugely. Back to sleep.
• 1.30 am.  Or not asleep. Grizzle grizzle wail wail. I wait it out for a bit. Silence.
• 2 am. Awake. Griiiiiizzzzle. I go down and feed her, again. Back to bed for me, finally, at 2.30 am.
• 5 am. Awake! Hi, Mummy. Chat, chat, chat and coo. I take her upstairs to bed with us to cadge an extra hour or so of sleep and mercifully she goes back down until 7am. 

In a previous post on the travails of Botany's sleeping, a couple of people mentioned the possible approach of turning off the baby monitor/earplugs. An attractive notion, to be sure. The problem is that we live in a townhouse-type arrangement, with the nursery down on the floor below. For the first couple months, the baby slept in our room for at least part of the night in the hanging cradle but eventually I concluded that we were simply waking each other up, so I transitioned her to her cot for the whole night. We need to keep our bedroom door shut so the dog doesn't go wandering around, and we also keep the nursery door shut to muffle out any random nighttime barking by Little Guy (which happens from time to time). So I am not completely certain that I would hear her if she was really in distress.

Actually, I confess that a couple of weeks ago, I accidentally turned the monitor off when I went to bed and didn't realise until I woke up at quarter past five wondering why it had been such a quiet night. When I turned it on, sure enough she was awake and "eh-eh-ehing" away, although not howling her head off. I've since been wondering (and feeling rather guilty) about how long she might have been lying there while I slept on oblivous.

I suppose part of the problem is that I don't have the will to leave her to grizzle for more than ten minutes or so. Part of me reasons that if she's not actually crying and if the noise is not escalating as such, then there is no pressing need for me to go pick her up, and eventually she will go back to sleep. This happens frequently. Sometimes I get all the way down the stairs to the nursery door and just as I am about to go in, she goes quiet.

So I don't rush in. But after a certain amount of time elapses, the more primal part of me goes into mothering autopilot: the baby needs me! She is all tiny and lonely in her cot and is calling out for me in the only way she knows how! "Eh-eh-eh-EH!"  Also, I tend to the view that if she hasn't managed to fall back asleep within ten minutes or so, it's better to just go down and get her settled as opposed to me lying there awake listening to her gurn for who knows how long. Even if that means getting up out of my cosy pit three or more times. And while I am away, Little Guy commandeers my warm spot.

Ach. I am sure this too will...yawn...pass. 

 

Comments

[daysgoby]

Wow, are you handling that well! It took me months and months before I'd hear a whimper and pound down the hall...mostly to my detriment, and not at all helpful to the (would have been back asleep except for me) baby.

[Carla Hinkle]

My one-year-old still does that *exact* thing (grizzle, grizzle, grizzle ...). For us, though, it either peters out within 5 minutes or advances to full-fledged yelling. That 30-min grizzle sounds tough. I would do exactly what you do (if I'm lying here awake, might as well go deal with it and get it over with).

[Bittermama]

Yay for nasal spray... it really does work wonders!

As for the monitor issues, your set up is just about exactly like ours was with the baby on a separate floor and a yappy dog that required closing of doors. I eventually figured out that if I kept the monitor on, but in the hallway outside of my room, I would hear him if he cried, but I wouldn't hear the little clicking on and off and every little squeak or rustle. Worked well for waking me up when it was the real deal, but letting me sleep when it wasn't.

[Tonya]

That is the magic of being a mama-- learning what requires your help and what they can deal with themselves. I'm sure you're already able to (mostly) tell just from the pitch/tone/urgency how you need to respond, and how quickly. ;) Try not to beat yourself up over that restful night... if she REALLY needed you during that spell, she surely would have let you have it full blast, then you'd KNOW self-castigated was in order.

You're doing great (and what a good friend to have, indeed! So nice to know you found options to help ease that cold despite what the CYA-obsessed pharmacist told you!)

[Sam]

What is "grizzle"? Yes, I am being lazy and should look it up.

[Sam]

Grizzle: "to express complaints, discontent, displeasure, or unhappiness". I heart the Innernets. They are kind and very helpful at times.

[monica]

Had a similar arrangement - me on the third floor - baby on the first floor, but no dog. I used to put a blanket or towel over the monitor to dampen the gurgles so I could sleep.