Sleep!

Sleep, or lack thereof, has become a constant problem around our house. I know we are not the first (nor the only) parents to find themselves exhausted by their baby's sleeplessness, but I have not had more than six hours of sleep in four months and it is really starting to get to me. I am practically delirious.

It all began when Eloise started teething and has gotten progressively worse. Some nights are better than others, but I am often up five, six, seven, even nine times during the night. Our restless baby is up for a variety of reasons, but in my sleepy stupor I give in by nursing her back to sleep in hope of stringing together a few hours for myself. I understand that I am part of the problem by letting Eloise know that if she wakes I will go to her, but you try reasoning with a screaming infant at three o'clock in the morning. Besides, is Eloise not crying because she needs me?

One thing I do know is that Eloise is waking up hungry. I can hear her little tummy grumbling during our nighttime feeds and though we have tried diligently for the past two months to get her to eat solids, we have had no success. No matter what I offer - homemade applesauce! yams! pears! oatmeal! - she refuses by gagging and shuddering each time a spoonful touches her mouth. In desperation we have even added a bottle of formula at bedtime in hopes of keeping Eloise fuller, but so far it's added no more than an extra hour. I give up.

Have you read the satirical storybook Go the F**k to Sleep by Adam Mansbach? Though it's very naughty, not at all applicable to babies and entirely inappropriate for children, it makes me laugh every time... especially the audiobook narrated by none other than Samuel L. Jackson.