Addison’s cold is gone now. My cold, which she passed along, is gone too. Neal is at the tail-end of his cold, which I graciously passed along. So things are looking up.
Except that this little baby of ours is on Tokyo standard time.
The general consensus from friends, family, and the pediatrician is that we are going to have to help her get her days and nights straight because she probably won’t do it on her own. So the pediatrician, for example, said forcibly wake her to feed every 3 or 4 hours during the day. Sounds simple, right?
Except that this baby either sleeps like the dead or has an iron will because if she’s not ready to wake, she’s not waking.
And believe me, we’ve tried a thing or two.
For example, Neal tries to annoy her out of slumber with facial contortions:
Or rapid foot applause:
Or nose rubbing (which you’d think would work when you’ve got a nose as pointy as Neal’s):
He also holds her up like baby Simba in The Lion King, lets out high-pitched squeals, which startle her only momentarily, and threatens to give her Wet Willies, which I will never allow because of traumatic childhood experiences with my sweet brother.
I was initially more reluctant about trying to wake her, but now I bust out and give her a sponge bath, move from room to room putting her in increasingly uncomfortable positions, and yes, ice her. The uncanny thing about the ice usage is that for the first 5 seconds or so, she will squirm to get away, but too quickly she decides that it is not worth the effort and just slumbers with ice crammed against her foot, neck, cheek, belly, anywhere. How any human sleeps through all this I will never know!
So, dear readers, any ideas we haven’t tried?
Don't call us, we'll call you 
I think you’re doing what I would try too. I used to use a wet washcloth and wipe them down or if it all got desperate actually give them a bath which I think you’ve said you did too. Keep on trying, hopefully she’ll straighten out soon! At least you know that she can sleep for longer then 2 hours at a time which is a blessing, if you can only get it between 10pm and 6am now things will be looking up!
Comment by Margie — March 16, 2010 @ 4:35 pm
Pull her eyelids open?
Comment by Nikki — March 16, 2010 @ 4:36 pm
I’ve heard some say diaper changes, but my kids could sleep through them. I wish you the best of luck. All else fails – move to Tokyo?
Comment by Jolene — March 16, 2010 @ 5:05 pm
Hahaha, she is already sleeping like a teenager or a grad student! That’s hilarious
Comment by Emily T — March 16, 2010 @ 5:27 pm
Move to Japan? Just sayin’…
Comment by Andrea — March 16, 2010 @ 8:41 pm
Christian had the same reaction to ice. I have heard that touching the lips helps, but it didn’t seem to help Christian.
Comment by Rachel C. — March 16, 2010 @ 9:57 pm
Maybe she gets some of her calmness from Neal. 🙂
Comment by Audrey — March 16, 2010 @ 11:27 pm
Yep, I had one of those too. I was told to wake her every 2-3 hours and she’d sleep for 5 at a time, including me pestering her for literally an hour to try to wake her. Just keep going – she’ll catch on one of these days.
To give you some hope – I’d take this as a good sign. My dead-to-the-world sleeper was sleeping through the night at 4-5 months. She went through a phase where she’d wake during the night that lasted a few months, but she sleeps well now again. Conversely, my “good” baby who woke up to eat every 2-3 hours STILL has trouble sleeping through the night, always has, and she’s almost FOUR.
Comment by treen — March 16, 2010 @ 11:37 pm
Neal is in his glory, as the photos attest. Lindsay, go to e-mail “Empowering Lindsay–3/17/10,” and call me. Thanks!
Comment by Lorie — March 17, 2010 @ 10:35 pm
Hmm, sorry (not really!) I don’t have much personal experience with this. I assume you are also actively promoting sleep at the correct times, though, in addition? Keeping things dark and quiet at night?
Comment by Vickie Blanchard — March 18, 2010 @ 2:38 am