Storrs Mansfield, CT- When 28-year-old new mom, Kristen Ricci, took on the challenge of teaching her baby to sleep through the night this past November she never dreamed it would be so hard. After the first week she was feeling great about the progress McKenzie was making. She was falling asleep on her own without being rocked by her mother and each night she cried for a shorter period of time. Unfortunately, just when things were looking up, a couple pearly whites threw a wrench in the works.
Two new teeth, both on the bottom, wreaked havoc on McKenzie's sleep pattern and mom gave up trying to get it back on track until the teeth were completely in. That's when the holidays hit. And this year, they hit hard. Four families, four Christmases and many late nights deemed a sleep routine impossible and, in turn, both mom and baby shared many quiet, late night and early morning moments trying to get baby back to sleep. Just when Ricci thought things couldn't get worse, McKenzie's nose began to run and her usually happy demeanor turned sour. McKenzie wanted to be comforted and only her mama would do.
After a couple of completely sleepless nights and one visit to the pediatrician, Ricci learned that baby Kenzie had an ear infection. Now, with the help of antibiotics, Ricci hopes McKenzie will be able to sleep again. "I know plenty of parents whose kids sleep through the night so there has to be hope for us too," Ricci says, adding, "I haven't had more than three or four consecutive hours of sleep in eight months. I'm tired."
Two new teeth, both on the bottom, wreaked havoc on McKenzie's sleep pattern and mom gave up trying to get it back on track until the teeth were completely in. That's when the holidays hit. And this year, they hit hard. Four families, four Christmases and many late nights deemed a sleep routine impossible and, in turn, both mom and baby shared many quiet, late night and early morning moments trying to get baby back to sleep. Just when Ricci thought things couldn't get worse, McKenzie's nose began to run and her usually happy demeanor turned sour. McKenzie wanted to be comforted and only her mama would do.After a couple of completely sleepless nights and one visit to the pediatrician, Ricci learned that baby Kenzie had an ear infection. Now, with the help of antibiotics, Ricci hopes McKenzie will be able to sleep again. "I know plenty of parents whose kids sleep through the night so there has to be hope for us too," Ricci says, adding, "I haven't had more than three or four consecutive hours of sleep in eight months. I'm tired."
The very title of this entry in my blog-reader had me laughing hysterically. Perhaps it was relief that I wasn't the only one. Don't you find that NOT having had a complete REM cycle in so long makes you strangely more creative and humorous? Or maybe I'm just slap-happy and delusional all of the time.
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