Remember all the DRAMA! HALP! posts regarding my daughter's sleep patterns?
Houston, we've had problems, but we're ready for take-off anyway.
We're all sleeping. At least 8 hours. In a row. Usually, anyway. (i won't go into the gas-induced-scream-fest that was tuesday night. that just bums me out).
An earlier bedtime, one nap a day and a refusal to nurse at night have made us all better sleepers. I know things change and I'm not claiming victory yet, but actually waking up in the morning and having to PEE is a welcome feeling.
(because, you know, i wasn't awake three times during the night with my daughter, giving me an excuse to pee and then waking up, groggily, in the morning and making it through my second cup of coffee before realizing I haven't peed yet, good god.)
Speaking of coffee, must refill my cup. Afternoon hath arrived.
Showing posts with label sleep. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sleep. Show all posts
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Give me Sleep or Give me Death.
Since when do 1 year olds not sleep through the night?
Seriously, I thought this night-waking would stop at some point. So far, it seems I am doomed to years of not sleeping.
I finally decided to suck it up and no longer nurse Sofia at night. She demands it and screams for it and it is not the way I'd like to nurse, so I'm refusing. I always thought I'd be the "don't offer, don't refuse" kind of mom. Just another example of how your kid changes your plan, I guess. So, we cry at night instead. The crying length is getting shorter, so I'm trying to be heartened. I don't have it in me to just let her cry, so I hold her and cuddle her instead. One step at a time, right? We have a sippy of water in her crib in case she is thirsty and I'm trying to explain to her during the day as well that we don't nurse when she screams for it.
Yet, we're still waking twice a night. At least. This is not helping my plan to wake up early in the morning, work out and be out the door before 8:30. Sometimes I'm lucky to be out of bed by then.
Who knew that lack of sleep could be this important? I know I went with far less during college.
I also fell asleep behind the wheel once and tended to fall asleep during class, so I guess that isn't sayin' much.
Anyway, besides refusing to let her mama and papa get a full night's sleep in, my toddler is continuing to charm me. She's so funny. She likes animal crackers, and will take one in her chubby little hand, walk off with it, feed it to the dog, then come complaining to me that Polar ate her cookie. Stinker.
The child loves accessories. She walks around the house with a little purse around her neck, carrying her shoes. She's got a costume jewelery necklace that she loves. How am I going to afford her teenage years? I foresee a lot of babysitting in her future paying for handbags and earrings.
Job hunt still on. Trying not to let the fear consume me. Trying to move on. Sometimes is easier than others.
Seriously, I thought this night-waking would stop at some point. So far, it seems I am doomed to years of not sleeping.
I finally decided to suck it up and no longer nurse Sofia at night. She demands it and screams for it and it is not the way I'd like to nurse, so I'm refusing. I always thought I'd be the "don't offer, don't refuse" kind of mom. Just another example of how your kid changes your plan, I guess. So, we cry at night instead. The crying length is getting shorter, so I'm trying to be heartened. I don't have it in me to just let her cry, so I hold her and cuddle her instead. One step at a time, right? We have a sippy of water in her crib in case she is thirsty and I'm trying to explain to her during the day as well that we don't nurse when she screams for it.
Yet, we're still waking twice a night. At least. This is not helping my plan to wake up early in the morning, work out and be out the door before 8:30. Sometimes I'm lucky to be out of bed by then.
Who knew that lack of sleep could be this important? I know I went with far less during college.
I also fell asleep behind the wheel once and tended to fall asleep during class, so I guess that isn't sayin' much.
Anyway, besides refusing to let her mama and papa get a full night's sleep in, my toddler is continuing to charm me. She's so funny. She likes animal crackers, and will take one in her chubby little hand, walk off with it, feed it to the dog, then come complaining to me that Polar ate her cookie. Stinker.
The child loves accessories. She walks around the house with a little purse around her neck, carrying her shoes. She's got a costume jewelery necklace that she loves. How am I going to afford her teenage years? I foresee a lot of babysitting in her future paying for handbags and earrings.
Job hunt still on. Trying not to let the fear consume me. Trying to move on. Sometimes is easier than others.
Friday, October 10, 2008
In Need of Sleep
Isn't is amazing how not sleeping very well throws everything into the realm of DOOM! HELP! SUCKS! the sun will never shine again!
Sofia has a cold. Not a cold that affects her during the day, save for some sniffles and a mama that is constantly running after her with a tissue, but a cold that disrupts her sleep and makes her feel crummy. Know what a baby does when she feels crummy and doesn't know why and can't sleep? She makes sure the whole house knows it.
We heard her begin to whimper last night (mind you, this is the fourth or fifth night of this) and laid in bed still, our ears piqued hoping that the cries wouldn't escalate and the little angel would put herself back to sleep. Cries continue, paper/rock/scissors to determine who has to actually GET UP to fetch her. Of course, she wants to nurse. She always wants to nurse. Forever. Listening to a stuffy kid nurse is not very calming and now I have booger on my boob. Sweet.
So, we used to co-sleep. I liked it. Until Sofia didn't. Now she kicks, moves, wiggles, farts, nurses, bites, talks, and all other sorts of non-approved-nighttime activities when in bed with us. None of us sleep. But the energy required to put her back in her bed and deal with the inevitable aforementioned crying of the feeling-crummy-toddler equals more than the lazy solution of just dealing with her where she is.
So, all this = very little sleep.
Fast forward to this afternoon. I imagine we are not the only family with financial stresses, nor are we the only family dealing with difficult things. I swear, though, one little straw fell, and I hit the floor. Doom! Drama! Poor me! Break out that violin, folks, for I have the worst sob story.
After a few minutes of literally forced, relaxed breathing, a latte and some reality, I have officially calmed down.
And planned some sleepy time for me this weekend. Because you simply can't hold your family together when you are falling apart.
Sofia has a cold. Not a cold that affects her during the day, save for some sniffles and a mama that is constantly running after her with a tissue, but a cold that disrupts her sleep and makes her feel crummy. Know what a baby does when she feels crummy and doesn't know why and can't sleep? She makes sure the whole house knows it.
We heard her begin to whimper last night (mind you, this is the fourth or fifth night of this) and laid in bed still, our ears piqued hoping that the cries wouldn't escalate and the little angel would put herself back to sleep. Cries continue, paper/rock/scissors to determine who has to actually GET UP to fetch her. Of course, she wants to nurse. She always wants to nurse. Forever. Listening to a stuffy kid nurse is not very calming and now I have booger on my boob. Sweet.
So, we used to co-sleep. I liked it. Until Sofia didn't. Now she kicks, moves, wiggles, farts, nurses, bites, talks, and all other sorts of non-approved-nighttime activities when in bed with us. None of us sleep. But the energy required to put her back in her bed and deal with the inevitable aforementioned crying of the feeling-crummy-toddler equals more than the lazy solution of just dealing with her where she is.
So, all this = very little sleep.
Fast forward to this afternoon. I imagine we are not the only family with financial stresses, nor are we the only family dealing with difficult things. I swear, though, one little straw fell, and I hit the floor. Doom! Drama! Poor me! Break out that violin, folks, for I have the worst sob story.
After a few minutes of literally forced, relaxed breathing, a latte and some reality, I have officially calmed down.
And planned some sleepy time for me this weekend. Because you simply can't hold your family together when you are falling apart.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Sleep
or rather, the lack there of, for me, my husband, and most notably, Sofia. Boy, are you going to be tired of hearing about sleep.
We go from having one great night to one horrible night. Last night falls in the horrible category. She was up, literally, every half an hour. Wanting to nurse. No, insisting to nurse. Loudly. In that cry that makes me want to move mountains to be by her side. Or make it go away, anyway. I acquiesced the first three or four times (really, who's counting) but finally at 3 am, I refused. I held her, I cuddled, I hushed, I gave her her pacifier. I told her it wasn't time to nurse, it was time to sleep, and to my immense surprise, she laid her head on my shoulder and fell asleep. So, I put her in her crib.
You would have thought I was trying to kill her, the noise she made. So I said goodnight and forced myself out the door. Hubby (dear, dear hubby) wakes up. He goes to her room. He brings her to me, asking if she had nursed.
Me: "YES!"
Him: when? It's 3 am already.
Sofia: RRRRROARRRR
Me: at 2:freaking30!
So, he takes her and I hear crying, and I cringe in my bed, forcing myself not to go nurse her. Then, she gets quiet, and eventually I fall asleep.
And then, the dream. I'm on a walk. Across the country. With my sisters. Suddenly, I realize that I left Sofia at home, alone, upstairs. I start running. And running. And not only do I have to run, but I'm being chased. And I have to dodge my predators and get through all these traps. Finally, I almost reach home, and see Sofia coming toward me. Only she isn't whole--something happened to her legs and her body. I had failed her.
Think my subconscious is telling me something?
So, I just don't know what to do. She is ONE.YEAR.OLD. That is plenty old enough not to nurse at night, plenty old enough to sleep all night long. But, I don't want to deny her if she is actually in need. What if she's getting sick and just wants mom? What if her teeth hurt? What if she's missing me and just wants to be reassured? Do I keep up nursing? Do I put my foot down?
All I know is, I get another cup of coffee. at 2pm.
We go from having one great night to one horrible night. Last night falls in the horrible category. She was up, literally, every half an hour. Wanting to nurse. No, insisting to nurse. Loudly. In that cry that makes me want to move mountains to be by her side. Or make it go away, anyway. I acquiesced the first three or four times (really, who's counting) but finally at 3 am, I refused. I held her, I cuddled, I hushed, I gave her her pacifier. I told her it wasn't time to nurse, it was time to sleep, and to my immense surprise, she laid her head on my shoulder and fell asleep. So, I put her in her crib.
You would have thought I was trying to kill her, the noise she made. So I said goodnight and forced myself out the door. Hubby (dear, dear hubby) wakes up. He goes to her room. He brings her to me, asking if she had nursed.
Me: "YES!"
Him: when? It's 3 am already.
Sofia: RRRRROARRRR
Me: at 2:freaking30!
So, he takes her and I hear crying, and I cringe in my bed, forcing myself not to go nurse her. Then, she gets quiet, and eventually I fall asleep.
And then, the dream. I'm on a walk. Across the country. With my sisters. Suddenly, I realize that I left Sofia at home, alone, upstairs. I start running. And running. And not only do I have to run, but I'm being chased. And I have to dodge my predators and get through all these traps. Finally, I almost reach home, and see Sofia coming toward me. Only she isn't whole--something happened to her legs and her body. I had failed her.
Think my subconscious is telling me something?
So, I just don't know what to do. She is ONE.YEAR.OLD. That is plenty old enough not to nurse at night, plenty old enough to sleep all night long. But, I don't want to deny her if she is actually in need. What if she's getting sick and just wants mom? What if her teeth hurt? What if she's missing me and just wants to be reassured? Do I keep up nursing? Do I put my foot down?
All I know is, I get another cup of coffee. at 2pm.
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