Gianna on the other hand is now 3 yrs old and is going through a super tough phase...She is no longer napping which is fine but the problem is that no matter what time she goes to bed she wakes up between 4:30 and 5:30 every morning. If I get to her to nap (which is a huge accomplishment these days) she stays up until around 9ish and then is up at the crack of dawn. So we have abandoned naps all together and just do a stay in your room and read books rest time. The lack of sleep and early waking has put a huge strain on our relationship and made life pretty unpleasant. I am already getting up with Sammy 1 or 2x a night so when I have G at my bedside at 4:30am it is not fun. This has been going on for 3 weeks and I am really wiped out. Not to mention the fact that I miss my sweet girl and I am sure she misses her nice mom. I know I am crabby when I don't get enough sleep and so is she. Every day that hubby works and I am on my own I feel like I have accomplished such a huge feet by making it to bed time.
Bedtime has also become a big drama. Each night she comes out of her room and asks me about 10 different questions. After trying so many different strategies I think the one that is really working is the super nanny tactic of no conversation just putting her back to bed. Tonight will be the first true test because she took a nap at preschool and will have renewed energy (ahhhhhh!!!). There have been plenty of nights though where she has pushed me over the edge and I have not been proud of the way I have handled things. I guess G is getting to see how human mom really is and that I make many bad decisions also. I make her apologize when she does something wrong and I do the same when I mess up.
So lately I have been getting her to sleep around 5:15pm...I know that sounds early but she is not napping and wakes up super early. I am praying that this will let up soon and even wonder if any of it has a spiritual element to it. Man can Satan mess with your family by ruining sleep. I keep saying this too shall pass I am just wondering if it could come soon.
3 comments:
Oh Julie, I can't even imagine how tired you are every day! I think maybe you need to try the Super Nanny technique in the mornings too and have G go back to bed until 6am. If you are going to be up w/ her anyways, might as well keep putting her back in her room. Maybe after several days, she'll go back to sleep and slowly start to sleep later. I'm trying to think of how you could use the upcoming time change to your advantage, but it's late and my brain is fried! If she isn't napping, I'd think that 7pm-6am or so is a reasonable nighttime schedule. My 4.5 yr old doesn't nap and most nights she is in bed at 7:30pm and wakes up around 6:30-6:45.
I think I let Miss Rose cry it out at 6 months at night. She cried for almost an hour and it killed me! But it only took that one night. With Gracie I waited until 8 months and she didn't cry nearly as much, and I don't know how much I ever let Lily cry. Maybe that's why she still wakes up every night! Our house is pretty small...so if I let her cry too long, she wakes the other girls up.
You are right though...this too shall pass!
And now, I'm done writing my novel to you.
LOVE the new blog name! Lily calls bananas "meenas". Love the made up words!
I'm with you, Julie. Sleep deprivation really pushes me to the brink of insanity in dealing with two little ones. Thankfully they are very forgiving and resilient, and as Sam continues growing they will play together and it won't be so intense. Kira's 13 months now and still not a great sleeper, but there are chunks of time during the day that I can sit back and rest while her and Isaac giggle and chase each other all over the house and backyard. One of my favorite mom quotes is "The days are long but the years are short." Give yourself lots of grace and hang in there! You can do this!
Julie! I am so glad I came across your blog. My wesley still wakes up several times at night and everyone tells us to let him cry it out. We have tried many times, but the kid is so intense that it just breaks our hearts. He ends up popping tiny blood vessels on his head when he cries. It doesnt feel right to me and since I am gone all day working I cant stand to let him just cry. I am glad someone else feels the same way. Thanks for sharing that.
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