8:00 PM
Jane goes to bed.
Besides an occasional whimper or knock on the door, she's pretty much out for the count.
8:30-9:00
Megan goes to bed.
I wrap her up and put her in the crib. I let her cry for 5-10 minutes, give her back the pacifier, and she's done.
10:00-10:30
I go to bed.
I could go to bed earlier, I guess, but I have to have a break sometime and being asleep doesn't entirely count...
12:30 AM
Megan wakes up.
I give her the pacifier, and we both go back to sleep.
1:30
Megan wakes up.
I give her the pacifier, she keeps crying. I rock her for a while, then lay her back in the crib, and we both go back to sleep.
2:30
Megan wakes up.
We try the pacifier, rocking, walking...anything but a bottle. I know she can go all night without eating, so I don't want her waking up expecting to eat. Maybe that's dumb.
3:30
We're still awake.
I cave in and let her lay in bed with me. She plays with the blanket, tries to get to me, and eventually falls asleep.
4:00
I fall asleep.
If I'm lucky.
6:00
I wake up.
I have no idea why. Megan is asleep, Jane is asleep, but I wake up at 6:00 every morning. Not by choice.
6:30
My alarm goes off.
I hit snooze every five minutes. Megan never flinches.
7:00
I get up.
I get myself ready, wake up Jane and get her ready.
7:30
I wake up Megan.
Oh, the irony.
8:00
We all leave for day care and school.
Jane goes to bed.
Besides an occasional whimper or knock on the door, she's pretty much out for the count.
8:30-9:00
Megan goes to bed.
I wrap her up and put her in the crib. I let her cry for 5-10 minutes, give her back the pacifier, and she's done.
10:00-10:30
I go to bed.
I could go to bed earlier, I guess, but I have to have a break sometime and being asleep doesn't entirely count...
12:30 AM
Megan wakes up.
I give her the pacifier, and we both go back to sleep.
1:30
Megan wakes up.
I give her the pacifier, she keeps crying. I rock her for a while, then lay her back in the crib, and we both go back to sleep.
2:30
Megan wakes up.
We try the pacifier, rocking, walking...anything but a bottle. I know she can go all night without eating, so I don't want her waking up expecting to eat. Maybe that's dumb.
3:30
We're still awake.
I cave in and let her lay in bed with me. She plays with the blanket, tries to get to me, and eventually falls asleep.
4:00
I fall asleep.
If I'm lucky.
6:00
I wake up.
I have no idea why. Megan is asleep, Jane is asleep, but I wake up at 6:00 every morning. Not by choice.
6:30
My alarm goes off.
I hit snooze every five minutes. Megan never flinches.
7:00
I get up.
I get myself ready, wake up Jane and get her ready.
7:30
I wake up Megan.
Oh, the irony.
8:00
We all leave for day care and school.
My longest stretch of sleep at any one time is two and a half hours at best. And then I get up and go to school all day. And then come home to take care of two little girls.
I'm tired.
I know I'm not alone on this one. It seems a trend among several people I know to have their second child be a poor sleeper. But, at the same time, I am alone on this one, too, because there is no one else to get up when Megan cries.
I can handle a baby having a hard time going to sleep. I can let them cry it out, or give extra cuddles, or plan a more sleeping-friendly eating schedule--all those I can manage to help a baby fall asleep at a regular bedtime every night. But I don't know what to do in the middle of the night. Part of that may be because I've been asleep and my brain function isn't all there, and part of that may be I haven't had a real night's sleep in over six months.
I am more and more looking forward to not teaching. Not that I don't want to teach, just that some things will be much easier when I don't have to go to school every day. For now, I guess I'll just be tired.
7 comments:
Oh Laura I am so sorry dear. I totally feel your pain... expect for not really. I have been having complete agony over our sleeping situation at our house lately. My nights seem to be pretty darn similar to yours... but I do have my husband to help me. I can not even imagine not having him. I usually wake up with Brooklyn the first 3 or 4 times then I make Karl get up with her. I always wake up so frustrated and upset. And, I don't have to go to a job where I actually have to work. At least at home I can be lazy. I'm so so sorry. You do know if you ever need a break I am more than willing to take your kids for a while. Please give me a call. Really. I mean it.
Can you teach a child to suck their thumb? Abby was sucking hers in the ultrasound photos. We didn't have to worry much about pacifiers after she found her thumb. So sorry you aren't able to sleep.
Laura... :(
Like Liz said, I've been there too.... but again, I had Rich. Though let's be honest. Rich was not as patient with Linus in the night so 90% of the time it was me getting up. And then even when Rich got up after about 5 minutes of him having no success with Linus, I got up anyway.
Do you want to come over for dinner next Tuesday? I realized that we haven't had you forever. Let me know....
SORRY!!!
I'vve only had about 5 good nights of sleep and we're going on 11 months. I wish it weren't the case for you too, but I don't think it will last forever!
Try to stay positive.
good luck! :o(
The biggest problem is there is no perfect answer for any two kids. Honestly, I guess I break all the rules. My kids sleep on their tummys. Why? I want them to sleep. Claire still sleeps in bed with me. Why? I nurse and want to just roll over and sleep while she eats. I let Nixon scream himself to sleep if he decides he's not tired. I figure after bedtime its MY time. With Nixon I just gave him sippy cups when he went to bed so I could sleep. It was helpful at the tim til he decided sleeping without one was impossible. Kids are a mystery.
My only thought is that if a bottle would put her to sleep, maybe she's just waking up hungry and needs to eat more during the day. I "cluster fed" my babies until they were older than Megan, meaning I nursed them every two hours in the evening: 4,6,8 then once more at 11.
Otherwise, I'm really sorry. I bet I'll be going through what you are when Jay's deployed. :\
Well I don't know how you feel but I am sorry! My sister is a single mom, one child is 4 the other is 2. She got divorced when her second child was about 9 months (they split when he was about 5 months).. I know what she has had to go through, but she wakes up at 5 every morning.. It is lame.. But you are almost done!! WHOOHOO!!! I hope you find time for sleep soon!! If I was there I would take your babies and let you sleep!
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