Teething Bites!

So our darling, easy-going, delightful daughter has recently turned into a little baby Mr. Hyde. She hasn't really been sleeping well since she turned 4 months old - namely she had been waking up 3-4 times a night, but would go back to sleep immediately upon nursing. Fine. I can deal with that. About 2 weeks ago she upped the ante and started waking 3-5 times, the first being an hour after going to sleep. I thought it would be a good idea to try to rock her back to sleep during these times of waking when I KNOW she's not hungry. WOW! Mistake. Apparently, nursing is the treatment for teething. But I didn't know that until yesterday. I just thought, there's no way I'm going to keep feeding this kid if she's not really hungry. And like any good mother, I worried that soothing her with food would naturally lead to an unhealthy relationship with food later in life. I can be such an idiot. It took me 2 weeks to understand that nursing can be part of teething and can actually help the process. Now, despite the utter sleep deprivation and frustration, when my sweet babe wakes up in the middle of the night, sometimes whimpering, sometimes shrieking, I hold her close , tell her it will be okay, and let that baby nurse until she can sleep again.

She has two bottom teeth now. I thought, "Super, maybe we can get some sleep." Nope, I also learned the dirty secret mamas don't tell you ahead of time. Teething lasts until they have ALL their teeth. She may not sleep until she's 2! So until then, I treasure the groggy, dreamlike nightwakings knowing that they will disappear all to quickly, replaced by first words, first steps, first day at school, first friends, first dates. David put this into perspective yesterday when he said, "Just think. I'll be walking her down the aisle before we know it." Hard to believe. I refuse to blink and I 'll never again wish away another phase. I will, however, nap more!