Macie's Opinion...

Macie is obviously too young to give us her personal opinion on whether or not she wants a younger sibling, right? Maybe not...

Since she was about 3 months old, Mac has slept nearly 12 hours each night. Ivie was (and still is) the same way. I know, I know. We are well aware how lucky we are to have two wonderful sleepers! However, in the past week, Macie has decided that she needs a late-night snack. The last 3 nights, it's been 2:30a, 4:30a, and 3:15a, respectively.

The first two nights, I gave her 5 minutes or so to try to get back to sleep on her own. She didn't, and her talking got progressively louder, so I gave in and nursed her back to sleep. This morning, though, I tried to be "Tough Mommy" and literally laid in bed and listened to her for 30 minutes. After about 2o of these minutes had passed, Dale rolled over and said, "You do hear her, don't you?".

But I held my ground and didn't get up until 3:45a. This wait was intentional, of course. I know the dangers of "giving in" when it comes to this issue, particularly when all literature indicates that a 5-month old doesn't NEED to eat during the night. So the thought of spoiling her into this becoming a regular occurrence was enough to help me stay firm and not get up. (Not to mention the fact that my bed is a whole lot warmer than the glider in her room.)

Sadly, though, her talking turned into whining, and then an all-out cry. At this point, Ivie's sleep was at jeopardy, so I threw back the covers and headed to her crib.

Now, there are all sorts of reasons that this change in her sleeping pattern might mean nothing at all:

1) She could be going through a growth spurt and really IS hungry after sleeping for around 8 hours...

2) Her teeth could be bothering her. This morning, I discovered that her second (bottom left) front tooth is cutting through (for the baby book that I haven't yet started, this occurred on 2/26/09, at 5 months and 16 days old).

3) She could still be recovering from the nasty cold she had over the weekend that decreased both her appetite and her quality of sleep.

4) She could be ready for more "solid" food to help pack on the calories.

But, while all these are legitimate possibilities, it ALSO could be that Macie is trying to tell me that she doesn't want a younger sibling. Because if she did, surely she would know to continue being the healthy, good-sleeping, extremely-and-unbelievably-low-maintenance baby that she's been the first 5 months of her life. Because it's THAT sort of baby that makes me think I want to have three children. Too many more of these late nights might send my number into a downward spiral...!