No Pattern Will Ever Hold

The title of this post is comprised of the worthy and valuable words my friend C gave me the other day in regards to child- rearing. I'd been bitching about Mabel's newest move-- the 3AM wake-up and holler. Good times. The frustrating part is that she HAD been sleeping through the night-- in fact, she started sleeping through on April 25. But, since then, she's actually done stints: a few weeks of through the night, and then a streak of not. It's been frustrating, but in doing a ton of reading (books, blogs, message boards, websites), I've come to learn that Mabel is actually in the majority. Most babies experience some sort of wakefulness period at some point or points. I have an entirely new level of respect for working moms--- as the product of a working mom, I've always known how hard it is, but being up in the middle of the night has made me see things through an even clearer lens. As of right now, if I don't sleep well, I can shut my eyes when Mabel goes for a nap the following day. But soon I will be at work and I am already afraid of my tiredness. J is great and shares these duties with me, but, sadly, I wake up and can't seem to settle myself until she is back to sleep, even on his nights. Conveniently, Mabel goes back to sleep very, very easily. She seems to want a bit to eat, and then passes right back out. Some of the "experts" out there claim that if you run in with a bottle, a 5- or 6-month- old, who is sophisticated enough to be strategic, will just cry all the time, knowing you will rush in. Yet, at the 3AM wake- up, she appears truly hungry. She goes down at 8, so that's 6.5 hours she has made it, and I guess I shouldn't be so hard on her. We've tried all the trendy stuff- the dream feed, the hazy feed, the bulking up on solids before bed. The poor thing just can't make it past 3:00. The other option is Ferberizing, but I am not there yet in terms of doing it at a gosh- awful time in the night.   J and I need our sleep too, and going in with a few sips from a buh- buh seems ways easier than hearing her scream it out. We have adopted whine- it- out for naps, which Mabel has done well with; she can definitely self- soothe. Soooo... maybe this a growth spurt. She also appears to have a tooth starting up way down in that gum. We shall see. For now, C's advice is utterly helpful-- no pattern ever holds, and just when your think you've got a pattern down, she will change it up on you. Expecting this to happen has helped me. And poor sweet Mabel, your mom is an awful sleeper. I will do what I can to help you to be a heavy and peaceful sleeper like your dad. You're waking only once per night- this really isn't too horrible.   And your cute little mug greeting me in the morning makes all this crap way easier.