Tesla on her own

These past few weeks or so have been pretty tiring for both Dav and me. Until recently, Tesla was a pretty good sleeper. She would go down at 7:30 or so without much fuss at all. She woke up on average 3 x a night but for quick short feedings that I got used to and I wasn't bothered. I assumed we'd continue like that until she naturally slept all the way through the night.

Unfortunately, she started waking 4 to 5 times a night. Sometimes just an hour after a feeding. And if I tried to ignore her knowing she really didn't need a feeding, she would start wailing louder and louder. Both Dav and I are conscientious of our neighbors who all sleep on the same side of the building as our bedroom, so letting her scream at 4am was not something we wanted. I tolerated this for a few weeks hoping it was a phase. But I slowly got really really tired, and I blew up at Dav out of fatigue. So one night Dav took his turn at comforting her when she did her first awakening at night around 11:30pm. We thought that maybe daddy was key since mommy would make her absolutely want the boob. I lay down in the living room waiting while Dav comforted her for over an hour in the bedroom. He finally came out to the living room and let me go to bed. I heard her still cry for quite some time. They stayed sleeping (mixed with Tesla crying) in the living room until 4:30am when I heard her again, and realized now Dav really needed rest. I came and got her and fed her in bed. I realized we needed to figure something out.

The next day, we got out a folding crib, and decided all three of us would camp out in the living room so that we could begin letting her cry it out without having to worry about neighbors. We could comfort her as needed and my goal was to not feed her until at least 3am. Then I'd let her have whatever she wanted.

I'm thoroughly amazed - and half expect this to change - but she slept through the night until 3:30am! At that first whimper, I realized she skipped 2 normal awakenings, and I was more than happy to cuddle up and feed her then. Last night we camped out again. And she slept until 6am!! Sure I heard her rustle and whimper a bit. Several times I braced for a full cry session, but within a few minutes, she was back snoozing. I can't believe it.

My theory is that while we were there with her, and ready to respond so she wouldn't feel abandoned, we (or more specifically) I was far enough across the living room that she didn't sense me and thus cry for me. During the difficult past few weeks when she cried for me every hour, I knew she was still pretty much asleep, but automatically stood up in her crib wailing. I think she was as delirious as I was. Without me as a temptation, it appears she sleeps better.
 
So...we officially moved her crib today into "her" room which as been a guest room/storage area. She's taking a nap in there now. And when we put her down in her new location, she spent a good 45 minutes happily playing by herself before crashing.

Part of me is excited that Dav and I will have our bed back! (ie. he doesn't have to sleep in the living room on intense work days), and I am inspired to decorate Tesla's room now that she'll be using it. I am sad though...I still miss having her in our bed between us like when she was a newborn. I'll miss hearing her soft noises throughout the night, and waking up in the morning seeing her grinning through her crib bars. But it's good. We need sleep and I miss Dav time.