Sending out an S.O.S. (Save Our Sleep!)

Baby girl is now 10 months old as of today.

And no, I don’t want to talk about it. (as in “time has gone WAY to fast and I can’t believe I am already having to think about her first birthday”, talk about it…)

And actually, yes I do. She’s wonderful. She’s smart. She’s gorgeous and loving.

She’s full of sweetness and light. She’s into EVERYthing (including toilets and dirt).

BUT.

She STILL wakes up once a night and wants a bottle. Like, “If I don’t drink this I may perish from the earth right now!!” wants.

It could be 1:50 a.m. or 5:23:42 a.m.

But MOST likely it’s between 3:30 and 4:30 a.m.

And my sleep-deprived body says a resounding,

“NO! This is not happening – again!!!” every time she wakes me with her cries…

And see my boys, well yeah, they slept.

By 3.5 months both of them were sleeping through the night. Never to be heard from again except on the odd night that maybe they were teething or not feeling well.

(okay, in the interest of FULL disclosure The B Man had a few weeks between 4-5 months when he was getting up but still, that is a distant memory now…)

Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that I’m not used to this.

Some of my friends say perhaps it’s just a ‘habit’ for her now.

You can tell by her chunky monkey legs that she certainly does not necessarily NEED more sustenance.

And I’ve tried to let her C.I.O. but instead of just that tiny little infant cry she now has the full-on bigger baby cry/scream and REALLY pulls at the heart strings by putting a few “MAMA”s in there for good measure.

So then it becomes more of a plea of sorts, and instead of just crying out “Mama!” I seem to hear “Get in here now you evil, mean woman who will not provide me with want I want right now and I’m just a baby and you should know better – waaaaah!”

Yeah, that’s kinda what I hear.

So, I’m asking for help from those of you who have dealt with this issue before.

And of course last night….? She slept through the night. And until 7 A.M. (!), after we had a babysitter who put her down. And after NOT drinking her nightly bottle. There is NO method to her sleepless madness. I mean really? Wouldn’t she be MORE hungry instead of sleeping through?

I don’t get it.

Anyway, if you have any advice on how to break 10-month old Baby K of her way-too-early-for this-mama bottle I would much appreciate it.

I tired.