We're Getting There

So...sleep has been going a bit better. I've begun topping off S with a few ounces of formula after every feeding. It takes a bit of time, but I'm finding a full belly all day long helps with the sleep at night more than just a top off in the evening. After some feedings he takes an extra ounce, after others he takes 3. It just depends. But, the important thing is we are back to sleeping til 5:30 or 6...and on 2 occasions a little bit later. Phew.

Sleeeeeeep...I miss it.

So. Sawyer will be 6 months in less than a week. And I hate to admit it, but I am still up once for feeding with him each night. Yes, there have been 3 days in the past 175 that he has slept until after 6 a.m. but they are few and far between.

This is new ground for me. Grayson was sleeping through the night every couple nights at 2 1/2 months. Then at 4 months I did a little tough love and over the course of 3 nights he cried it out and dropped it. Night 1 - 20 minutes, Night 2 - 10 minutes, Night 3 - 3 minutes. Pssht. Easy peasy.

Sawyer, well he's got a whoooole different attitude. Crying it out simply doesn't work. Or maybe I'm just not letting him go long enough. I've let him go up to 1:15 minutes before. Boy was that tough. And the end result was only me being up for that whole hour and fifteen minutes and listening to him wail...then tagging on another 30 minutes of no sleep to feed him. So lately, yes, I've gotten a bit softer. I let him go 30 minutes tops and I get in there and feed him, cause let's be honest. I. want. to. sleep. And once he's fed, he's happy and will go back to sleep til anywhere between 7 and 8:30.

But I'm tired. And I'm done. And I've tried it all. He's been topped off with formula. Been given rice cereal. We've played paci tag. None of it seems to work. He's quite stubborn.

Honestly I'm half tempted to just stop breastfeeding altogether to see if a few days of full on formula make his belly nice and full and make him happier and sleepier. (And i love breastfeeding...so this is saying a lot).

Now....I will say this - he goes to bed super early. I've tried keeping him up later to see if it makes a difference and it doesn't. So he has kept his 6:30/7:00 bedtime going down at the same time as his big brother. So this is nice. No complaints there since I get a few hours of quiet adult time each evening. But, depending on the night, he will be up screaming anytime from 3:30 to 5:30. There really is no consistency. And 5:30 I really don't mind. At all. But he seems to be rarely making it there these days. A little regression perhaps? He knows his mama is a little bit of a softy in her older age?

Any advice for a fellow mama here? I just want some sleep.

(oh and p.s. - as i'm typing this he also has totally boycotted naptime today. arghhhhhh!!!!)