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Opération Bonne nuit – Thwarted

From Xavier – 6e m…

Xavier’s had a little fever on Friday morning, and Saturday night too, as well as a stuffed nose. It’s not a big thing, but it might bother him a lot… or not. It’s hard to tell, until they can talk.

So yesterday night we put him to bed with some Tylenol, but he’s been waking up every 5 or 10 minutes crying, and from 11pm on, he just cried and cried. I tried and tried to get him to go back to sleep, to no avail. He quieted when I breast-fed him, drank but not much, and lay on the pillow, calm but awake… and started crying again when I put him back in bed.

Actual physical pain or psychological fear of separation? Sigh. I honestly don’t know. Except giving him some Tylenol, I can’t do much about much, in any case. But it would be good to know.

He finally went back to sleep around 1am – surprise, he slept until 6h30, drank a little and slept again until 8h30.

So now I’m not sure how much pain he’s in – might not be much – and I’m wondering should we put our efforts towards full nights on standby until he’s better. Will we notice greatly when he’s better; will teething pain take over then; is it just that he’s spoiled? I always said I don’t think they can be spoiled with affection – children come from love, and are meant to be loved – but he will need to gain autonomy in sleep, if only for his own sake.
Xavier a fait un peu de fièvre vendredi matin, et samedi soir aussi, ainsi qu’un peu de congestion nasale. Ce n’est pas un gros rhume, mais ça peut le déranger beaucoup… ou pas. C’est dur à dire, tant qu’ils ne parlent pas.

Alors hier soir nous l’avons couché avec un peu de Tylenol, mais il s’est réveillé chaque 5 ou 10 minutes en pleurant, et à partir de 23h il a pleuré et pleuré. J’ai essayé et essayé de le rendormir, sans succès. Il s’est calmé quand je l’ai allaité, a bu mais pas beaucoup, et est resté allongé sur l’oreiller, calme mais éveillé… et s’est mis à pleurer à nouveau quand je l’ai remis au lit.

Douleur physique réelle ou angoisse psychologique de séparation? Soupir. Je ne sais vraiment pas. À part lui donner du Tylenol, je ne peux pas faire grand chose contre quoi que ce soit, de toute façon. Mais ça serait bien de savoir.

Il a finit par se rendormir vers 1h – surprise, il a dormi jusqu’à 6h30, a bu un peu et a redormi jusqu’à 8h30.

Alors maintenant je ne sais pas s’il a beaucoup de mal – peut-être pas beaucoup – et je me demande est-ce que nous devrions mettre nos efforts pour les nuits complètes de côté jusqu’à ce qu’il aille mieux. Est-ce que nous remarquerons vraiment lorsqu’il ira mieux; est-ce que les dents vont se mettre à l’achaler alors; est-ce qu’il est seulement gâté/capricieux? J’ai toujours dit je ne pense pas qu’on peut les gâter avec de l’affection – les enfants proviennent de l’amour, et sont faits pour être aimés – mais il lui faudra acquérir une autonomie du sommeil, ne serait-ce que pour lui-même.

3 commentaires sur “Opération Bonne nuit – Thwarted”

  1. It is very difficult to judge when your child is ready to sleep through the night. We tried too early and suffered many very painful nights when Ben was too early.
    He was 7 months and it just didn’t work. We tried again a few months later and it took two nights, easy as pie. It really depends on the child. Good luck.

  2. Hear, hear. Your story sounds a lot like the one I’m in right now.

    Xavier’s last breast-feeding before going to bed yesterday hadn’t been quite good, so at 5h30am, trying to judge the crying type he was doing, I decided he might well be thirsty. I fed him: he didn’t fall asleep drinking – maybe he broke his sleep/sucking association? – but he went back to sleep without a peep when I put him back in his crib.

    I think I’ll have to stop breast-feeding for real, and give him a full bottle before he goes to bed. Sigh. He really is growing up.

  3. I mention this only as a « what’s working down here » and not neccisarily a « what will work up there. » Norah gets a slightly larger than usual bottle for her last feeding of the night, around 7:30 or so. In bed by 8 and only wakes once or twice if at all through the night. You mentioned the possibility of a bottle before bed and I think it worked for us. About a month ago she started waking up around 3 or so, and that’s when we increased that final bottle…it worked.

    And I agree completely that it will be wonderful when they can tell us what’s bothering them. We can usually tell with Norah based on context. But the night crying is a bit different since it’s usually out-of-the-blue crying devoid of context.

    I hope Xavier gets feeling better and Norah and I will keep our fingers crossed for Operation Bonne Nuit.

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