All Mixed Up
Jocelyn's nights are terrible. She has been waking five or six nights out of seven for weeks. It could even be months. She will wake, I let her cry for a few minutes, the sound level increases, so I check on her, change her diaper, give her a bit of milk, she usually falls asleep and I lay her down. This process can take anywhere from 20 to 60 minutes.
On occasion, she wakes for more than that and wants to play. Last night was one such night. She fell asleep at 8 p.m., Nathan read and went to sleep at 9 p.m. Ah. Perfect. I can watch Top Chef and then go to sleep. Only she woke at 10:30. I let her cry for about 20 min. Sounds harsh, doesn't it? Well, so is lack of sleep. Finally, I rise from bed and stumble into her room.
At 2:30, she is still awake. I am exhausted and put her to bed, even though she is wide awake. She cries for 30 min. I rise, comfort her and she falls asleep in my arms. Finally, I crash.
So what is going on here and more importantly, what can I do about it? I am living on 4-5 hours of sleep most nights. My workouts are spotty because I sleep until 6:30 and then wake with a start, squeeze in 2 mi run, then try to get in another run some time during the day. I have gained 5 lb because of this (I swear, but maybe I am wrong about the cause).
Is she spoiled? Is she in the habit of waking and having me put her to bed? What would you do? I am desperate here. My parents have graciously said they will come and take care of the kids while I go with W to California. I cannot leave them with a 20 mo old who wakes every single night.
On occasion, she wakes for more than that and wants to play. Last night was one such night. She fell asleep at 8 p.m., Nathan read and went to sleep at 9 p.m. Ah. Perfect. I can watch Top Chef and then go to sleep. Only she woke at 10:30. I let her cry for about 20 min. Sounds harsh, doesn't it? Well, so is lack of sleep. Finally, I rise from bed and stumble into her room.
At 2:30, she is still awake. I am exhausted and put her to bed, even though she is wide awake. She cries for 30 min. I rise, comfort her and she falls asleep in my arms. Finally, I crash.
So what is going on here and more importantly, what can I do about it? I am living on 4-5 hours of sleep most nights. My workouts are spotty because I sleep until 6:30 and then wake with a start, squeeze in 2 mi run, then try to get in another run some time during the day. I have gained 5 lb because of this (I swear, but maybe I am wrong about the cause).
Is she spoiled? Is she in the habit of waking and having me put her to bed? What would you do? I am desperate here. My parents have graciously said they will come and take care of the kids while I go with W to California. I cannot leave them with a 20 mo old who wakes every single night.
5 Comments:
Tree, that is so hard! Is it teeth? If not, I'm guessing she's probably in a bad habit. I suggest talking to her about staying in her crib, then choosing your method and being very, very consistent.
You could also try giving her ibuprofen one night (sounds harsh, but it's really fine) and see if that gets her a good night's sleep, then she won't be so tired the next night (the sleep begets sleep idea).
Good luck! That is such a hard phase, but you will get through it, I promise :).
I was going to suggest benadryl.
Then again, I'm the mom that lets my kids sleep with me if they wake up in the middle of the night.
Either that, or try putting her down earlier. Sounds crazy, but she may be over tired.
Hope you find something that works, and soon!
Lots of sympathy ... it is so hard!
What I did with my son finally (I'm thinking it probably was somewhere around J's age) was try to calm him down without picking him up. No milk, no diaper change (unless he was totally soaked or poopy), just stand by his crib like a robot and say "shhh, sleepy time, i'll hold you in the morning" about 100 times in a row while he whimpered.
IT SUCKED but eventually it worked.
I just started reading your blog and am loving it because I am trying to get back into my running habit after having baby #2.
My older baby is 21 months old and we had the same issues from 18-20 months. She would go down to sleep great but then wake up and SCREAM for me a few hours later. Since I had a newborn I couldn't go in and rock her for hours like she wanted so we ended up having Daddy go in. It was pretty miserable for everyone but it ended as suddenly as it started.
Do you read askmoxie? She talks about the 18 month "sleep regression", made me feel better to know I wasn't alone.
I am impressed that you are running so much on so little sleep. I am hoping to join you soon!
We used to give The Boy tylenol. (We reckoned it was teeth.) The molars are a killer and take forever to come in.
Most of the advice here is what I was going to say.
Seems like many moons ago. Sleep begets sleep. But could she be hungry? Maybe a bottle or something right before bed. I'm with Gretchen got to a point where I'd let him sleep with me.
Sometime motherhood bites.
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