Amidst reports from other people who just recently had babies who sleep through the night in barely ten days, we have the pleasure to report a vampire baby.I don't mean a normal baby who wakes up twice during the night because he wants to be fed. I mean a baby who refuses to open his eyes before 4 pm, and then only for a short while, but then really becomes active from 11 pm till about 8 am. And then there is his need to feed. During the day we have to wake him up, only to have him fall asleep at the breast after four or five sucks. At night he wants to eat, all the time. And he isn't content with a bottle, not even of pumped breastmilk, it must be mommy!!
Of course a lot of well meaning people tell us to 'keep the baby awake during the day', which we try, but it's easier said than done..... You can't shake him of course, nor can you continuously pour water over his face. You can put him down for tummy time with you, but he is just as likely to fall asleep that way, as he is in your arm, the cute little crochetted mat or the bouncy seat, even with the lights flaring and the music playing.After now more than two weeks, baby has had two nights in which he behaved more or less like a regular baby with sleep of two to three hours at regular intervals. All the other nights, daddy and I have to take shifts to stop him from screaming loud enough to wake the entire apartment building. This is the one time I am grateful for having loud neighbours, at least I don't feel as guilty when he screams at 3 am when I remember last weeks shouting argument in the hall or top of the lungs rendition of whatever rap song they were playing at 11 pm....
In the mean time, I am starting to hate this: "You can't spoil a newborn, he just needs to feel safe and tended to" credo. I am convinced that Joseph, aside from being strong and ahead of the curve (he didn't lose weight by his first or second check up, he GAINED more than half a pound) is simply a very smart baby who already knows how to push mommy and daddy's buttons. We're about to go for a weekend away and after that, I think baby might just move from the bassinet in our room to the crib in the next. At least we won't be awoken by all the wimpers, sounds and movements, and only when it comes to full blown crying.
While baby clearly is a vampire, mommy and daddy are slowly turning into zombies. Yesterday I had a fairly good day, after the baby had one of his two nights of sleep at regular intervals and then my husband was home and told me to sleep late. (which meant well until the afternoon) previous days, I have been known to walk into walls.
People keep telling us that our dear little one will soon be miraculously cured from mixing up days and nights. I hope so, if not, I'm going for the Holy Water!
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