Maybe I’m paranoid but I think there should be a set of eyes on the baby every minute of the day. Maybe that’s excessive but something inside makes me hypersensitive to making sure he is alright. During the day it’s easy. We are usually holding him or he’s laying down next to us sleeping after a snack.

I remember in Basic Training I used to hate pulling fire guard at night. Every night a group of recruits were tasked with spending an hour at some point of the night sitting at a desk on one end of the barracks waiting for the building to catch on fire. It never did. The way the rotation worked, everyone would get at least one night off a week from breaking a sleep cycle to sit at a metal desk with nothing to do but watch the clock and wake up the next troop an hour later. Somehow I always had a shift between 1AM and 4AM. I loved my night off.

Having a baby reminds me of this because I catch myself waking up at night and watching the baby sleep just to make sure he’s breathing and alright. Yes, it’s neurotic but I know it’s just a phase. With my wife having to wake up every few hours to feed him anyways, I try to let her get as much sleep as possible.

I pull baby guard duty for the first shift from about 9-Midnight then again from 3AM-5AM. The first shift isn’t so bad, I can catch up on TiVo or get some time online. Even with the baby awake, I can hold him in one hand and type with the other. The second shift is harder. If he’s awake I sit on a Yoga ball and bounce him to sleep. If he’s sleeping, I try to catch some sleep while he’s next to me on the couch.

I know that eventually he will be sleeping through the night without too many issues and eventually I won’t be so hypersensitive to his well-being that I can rest. I’m looking forward to that day. Until then I’ll continue pulling guard duty and trying to appreciate the time I have with him.

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