Mission: Get Noah to Sleep Longer At Night

We are going on day 3 of our new mission...which is to get Noah to sleep longer at night. He sleeps great for his naps during the day, but we have been struggling with this boy at night for a little while now. At first I chalked it up to just a growth spurt.....then it was that my milk was changing (due to the pregnancy), and then to needing to feed him more... All of those conclusions were right, I think, at some point or another. But he's been waking up like every 2 hours or so lately, and we weren't seeing an end in sight.

So, we had also played around with the idea that Noah was uncomfortable in his bed. We have a two bedroom apartment. Rebekah sleeps in her own bed in her room, and Noah has been sleeping in our room in the pack n play because a)we can't afford a crib for him right now and b)we don't want him to sleep in Bekah's room yet while he's still getting up at night for fear that she'd be up too! and c)it's just easier that way! :)

Well, we had discussed getting a new mattress for Noah when I heard that they make thicker ones for the pack n plays. See, he's been sleeping on just the little mat that comes with it that we had put a blanket down on. Anyway, we haven't had the time or money to track one down, so it's simply just been something we talk about.

Sunday night, after spending a day with our family, we were all exhausted. We were on our way home and I finally just told Jason how miserable I've been. My allergies have been bothering me which was making my ear was hurt, and I was feeling whiny so I was honest with him. He suggested that we go to Babies R Us and buy a mattress right then. You can imagine just how excited I was that he was giving in and willing to help me out (even though Mr. Budget has been strict with us lately). However, it was already past 6 on a Sunday and I knew all the specialty stores would be closed.

So, we went to Walmart (where customer service had no idea what I was talking about and told me to ask the fitting room lady! because she said they would know better! How weird is that?) and they didn't have them. We almost considered buying a toddler bed for Bekah and making Noah sleep in the crib in our living room, but decided against being up all night to put the thing together! haha! Target didn't have them either. But as I confided in the lady that worked there about why I needed it now and didn't want to look online for it, we started brainstorming. She suggested buying a foam mattress topper and putting a blanket on that. In fact, she directed me to the ones they had on clearance where the college bedding/decor stuff was.

And ya'll, I walked outta there with a memory foam mattress topper for under $10!

We went home, cut it to size (well, Jason cut it and everyone else watched!), put a blanket on top of that and then put a crib sheet around both, and made our own mattress! That night Noah slept a little bit longer - a three hour stretch, I think and then a four hour one that same night.

But last night he got up after two hours and then........slept for SIX HOURS STRAIGHT! We were so excited! And Noah's naps have been longer too!

So, we are praying that this is the solution! So far, so good, and Mama and Daddy have been sleeping better too! You can't beat that! I think we are going to put one on Bekah's bed too! :)

And in case you are curious, we will probably end up getting Bekah a toddler bed anyway, moving Noah into her room when it's time (into her crib), and buying that mattress for our pack n play for the baby. But we are just wanting to wait a little longer before that whole transition!