What to Do, What to Do

My Oliver is ten months old, and I have been blogging about his sleep patterns for... well, ten months now. Hehe. Anyone who knows me knows I love my sleep. Frankly, the only thing I don't like about motherhood is the lack of sleep. I like getting a full ten hours of sleep, and all you mommies out there know that's not happening.

Oliver has been stuck in a sleep rut for a few months now (with the occasional really good night or really bad night). He goes to bed around 7pm-ish, wakes up once around 4am-ish, and then goes back to bed until 6am-ish. I know he doesn't need that 4am feeding, but I don't know how to cut it out!

The thing is, when he gets up at 4am, he's more than happy to be up for the day if I don't go feed him right away. Letting him cry back to sleep works if he wakes earlier in the night, but at 4am, we have to be willing to get up and greet the morning if we want to let him cry back to sleep. I would much rather get up for 15 minutes to feed him and get a couple more hours of rest than try to let him cry for an hour in hopes he might lay back down and go to sleep.

So how do I cut out this feeding? Maybe I'll just walk him instead of nurse him. Perhaps cutting out the nursing will teach him he doesn't need me at 4am. Do you think that will teach him to put himself back to sleep when he wakes at 4am? Or do you think I'll just set the stage to get up and walk every night instead of get up to nurse? Well, at least if walking is all I do, I can alternate with Andrew. Typically, I go to bed at 9pm, a couple of hours after our baby. I sleep until his 4am feeding, and then I sometimes get up for the day to enjoy a few hours to myself, while other mornings, I go back to bed for those extra Zs. Unfortunately, that irregular pattern has made it so I have a hard time falling back asleep even if I want to. It taks an hour to fall asleep, and then Oliver wakes an hour later. I know, I'm pathetic, but 7 hours of sleep is not enough for this mama. I have such a sleep debt!