getting your infant baby to sleep at night

last night our little family went out for sushi. the parents next to us with two children (ages 4 and 8) kept looking at us and smiling. we looked back and smiled and then they said to us, "we were just reminiscing about our little girls being that young." to which we responded, "awww isn't it amazing?!" as our daughter simultaneously manages to shove steamed rice up her nose and yell in excitement from her new trick.

somehow our conversation went into sleeping or lack thereof. the mother at the table next to us said, "our youngest didn't sleep through the night until 16 months," to which i responded, "so you're telling me there's a chance!" because honestly, i feel like our daughter will never ever ever give us a 4-hour stretch of sleep ever again.

you know, there's a reason why they torture inmates by not allowing them to sleep....if there's a tipping point, i reached it months ago and am kind of in a weird place now. i wake up in the middle of the night feeling like i should just get up and start my day or take a bath and attempt to try to get ready for bed. i've read a handful of sleeping books, all of which offer a wide variety of solutions. we also have a handful of friends that have tried a variety of methods...some work, some don't. the truth is, THERE IS NO SOLUTION. we're kind of just riding this sleep-deprived wave hoping that one day the clouds will break and our daughter will come to the realization that sleep is the most amazing thing EVER.

i'm not going to go into the things that we've tried, the things that have worked for us or the things that i have decided we have no interest in trying because everyone is different. everyone has different parenting methods and whatever you choose is best for your family and your child will eventually work out. i promise. i think. i mean.....it better.

for another mother's hilarious perspective to bring a little sanity to all those sleeping books, click here

...and a few pics from baby girl's attempt to successfully launch steamed rice in nostril.