Those Endless Sleepless Nights!
I wish I could say for sure I know they'll end, but the truth is I'm lucky if I get to sleep through once a week, and that is with a preschooler and an almost-preschooler in the home...
One of our new night "things" is what I quite logically refer to as "musical beds". If any of you are familiar with the kids' party game of musical chairs, you can imagine what this looks like. Here is a typical scenario:
I read to the kids in K's double sofabed, where S promptly falls asleep (hallelujah, now he has given up daytime naps he's out with no problems). I then move him to his bed, generally cuddle K until she falls asleep, and it's not entirely uncommon for me to nod off myself for a while.
Unfortunately no matter how tired I am, it is rare for me to fall asleep for the night before 10 pm. On the rare nights I do, I wake up bright and early and rearing to go. Normally though, I can hardly get up at 8, which is the blessed hour our kids get up at (momentary stab of hatred once again permitted). In any case I normally go to sleep around 11 pm and since I have taken to switching my mobile phone off for the night for health reasons, I do not chek what time S arrives in our room, but I suspect it isn't long after I fall asleep. If my husband is away (on average he is), I hardly notice S's presence until he starts poking me with his feet or taking over my pillow. If I happen to have both my and O's pillows in bed (and they are big), I wedge one between myself and S for protection. Why don't I take him back to his bed? Too tired to care most of the time.
The problems start if K wants in our bed, especially if O is home. Then musical beds gets going for real. One of us parents goes and joins her in her bed. If it's me, invariably S will wake up at some point and protest. It hasn't been uncommon for me to take him into K's bed, let him fall asleep, and then return to our marital bed on my own. Complicated, right?
Thinking back to having K, despite being exhausted, overwhelmed, and suffering from some form of PND, I GOT UP three times a night for the first three or so weeks to feed and change her. I actually SANG nursery rhymes (well the one rhyme I could get away with in my terrible singing voice). I was terrified at the thought of bringing her into our bed, but I soon got over that and took to keeping nappies and baby wipes on hand. A bonus of breastfeeding - no getting up to sterilise bottles and heat milk. A couple of times though I zonked out during feeding. Once I woke to find a month-old K perched perilously at the very edge of our mattress, and once in a heroic sixth-sense scene, I put my hand out in my sleep and caught O's elbow that was well on its way to crashing down on K's head.
I fed and tended to K two to three times a night for the first year and it wasn't too bad because she was one of those glorious babies that fell asleep as soon as she was fed and slept soundly in either our or her own bed till the next feed. At 12 months I did the text book "teaching to sleep", timing it with a longer business trip of O's as he would have surely caved in hearing her cry for 40 mins. Not me though - it was either that or my sanity. And I was rewarded, after a few nights of adjustments, I had K sleeping through 12 hours without a peep or booby, until S came along, and he is now almost a preschooler...
One of our new night "things" is what I quite logically refer to as "musical beds". If any of you are familiar with the kids' party game of musical chairs, you can imagine what this looks like. Here is a typical scenario:
I read to the kids in K's double sofabed, where S promptly falls asleep (hallelujah, now he has given up daytime naps he's out with no problems). I then move him to his bed, generally cuddle K until she falls asleep, and it's not entirely uncommon for me to nod off myself for a while.
Unfortunately no matter how tired I am, it is rare for me to fall asleep for the night before 10 pm. On the rare nights I do, I wake up bright and early and rearing to go. Normally though, I can hardly get up at 8, which is the blessed hour our kids get up at (momentary stab of hatred once again permitted). In any case I normally go to sleep around 11 pm and since I have taken to switching my mobile phone off for the night for health reasons, I do not chek what time S arrives in our room, but I suspect it isn't long after I fall asleep. If my husband is away (on average he is), I hardly notice S's presence until he starts poking me with his feet or taking over my pillow. If I happen to have both my and O's pillows in bed (and they are big), I wedge one between myself and S for protection. Why don't I take him back to his bed? Too tired to care most of the time.
The problems start if K wants in our bed, especially if O is home. Then musical beds gets going for real. One of us parents goes and joins her in her bed. If it's me, invariably S will wake up at some point and protest. It hasn't been uncommon for me to take him into K's bed, let him fall asleep, and then return to our marital bed on my own. Complicated, right?
Thinking back to having K, despite being exhausted, overwhelmed, and suffering from some form of PND, I GOT UP three times a night for the first three or so weeks to feed and change her. I actually SANG nursery rhymes (well the one rhyme I could get away with in my terrible singing voice). I was terrified at the thought of bringing her into our bed, but I soon got over that and took to keeping nappies and baby wipes on hand. A bonus of breastfeeding - no getting up to sterilise bottles and heat milk. A couple of times though I zonked out during feeding. Once I woke to find a month-old K perched perilously at the very edge of our mattress, and once in a heroic sixth-sense scene, I put my hand out in my sleep and caught O's elbow that was well on its way to crashing down on K's head.
I fed and tended to K two to three times a night for the first year and it wasn't too bad because she was one of those glorious babies that fell asleep as soon as she was fed and slept soundly in either our or her own bed till the next feed. At 12 months I did the text book "teaching to sleep", timing it with a longer business trip of O's as he would have surely caved in hearing her cry for 40 mins. Not me though - it was either that or my sanity. And I was rewarded, after a few nights of adjustments, I had K sleeping through 12 hours without a peep or booby, until S came along, and he is now almost a preschooler...
I gave up after two weeks. But I must say my hubby has as much of a sixth sense for where the baby is, as any mother, phew!
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