We love (and miss) the nightlife
5th May 2006
It’s been difficult for us — like all new parents, I think — to adapt to the curtailed freedom with a baby.
Eric and I miss our evenings together more than anything. More importantly, Lucy has a grumpy, "I’m gonna inconsolably scream for no reason" time from about 9 pm until she’s on the boob before bed — we think it’s from being over tired by this point. She’ll quiet for her bath, then start screeching again.
The whole situation is starting to wear on all of us.
(I mentioned all of this to my doctor, who laughed and said, "What did you and Eric have kids for, then?")
So next week we’re going to try moving her bedtime up. She currently goes down around 10:30-ish by the time she’s done eating. We’re going to try making her last feed around 7:30, and putting her to sleep around 8:30.
We hope (hope!) that she’ll sleep the 10+ hours until her regular wake-up time of 7 am-ish. This way, Eric, Spencer Dog and I will have a few hours of non-screaming time together.
If it works, there will be trade-offs: she might wake up earlier to be fed. Or she may sleep the whole time, but I’ll lose these 2 hours in the morning when she currently goes back to sleep. Eric is torn, as he wants some downtime with me, but will only see Lucy for a few hours after work before she goes to bed.
Is a 10 week old OK with only 5 meals a day? Or will I have to nurse more often in the day to make up for it?
A part of me is super nervous — why fix what isn’t really broken?
Who knows. All we can do is try, right? If it doesn’t work, we’ll go back to the way it is now.
Wish us luck.
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