When I sat down to write last night, I couldn't think of a thing to write about.
Then, in the middle of the night, it hit me. When Punkin woke up at 2:30 for the 20th night in a row. Seriously people, it's like having a newborn again. At first it was 3:30 every night, but for some reason she's moved it up an hour.
Sometimes I awaken to frightened cries of "Mommmmmmy!", but occasionally she's just calling my name like it's the middle of the day instead of the middle of the night. When I go into her room I usually just have to pat her back and fix her covers a little and tell her to lie down and got back to sleep. Sometimes we have to find her bear that's made it's way to floor. Occasionally she's crying and says she can't find her pillow, even though it's right where it's supposed to be. Once she said her hand was big, which confused the heck out of Mr. Daddy who happened to be the one who responded that night. I'm thinking that her hand had fallen asleep and so it felt big.
But I am at my wits end. Even though I usually stumble in there and stumble right back to bed, there are nights when it takes me a while to go back to sleep. So, lovely internet friends, I'm turning to you. How do I break this insidious habit? My sanity depends on your quick response.
Mixed Bag
13 years ago
Posts
15 comments:
I haven't had this problem with Muffin. Yet. However, when I have trouble sleeping through the night I make myself get up really, really early one morning and then stay up later than usual that evening. After that, I can generally make it through the night. Unless I have to go to the bathroom...
I'm having similar issues with my son. I'd love to know the answer too.
So you must be walking in a haze like me. :-)
Charlotte was bad for a while but it seems to be getting a little better. There's no real rhyme or reason to it. They just seem to get freaked out for one reason or another.
You could try not going into her and just talking to her through the door. Maybe she's after the attention and if you stop giving it to her, she;ll stop the behavior.
Then again, what the frick do I know considering my kid does the same thing?
Funny you mention this... I'd just made up my mind the other day that this whole thing about babies sleeping through the night was a myth. I'm waking up at midnight, three, and six.
(I'll wave at you the next time I'm stumbling down the hall at dark o'clock in the morning.)
Hahahahahahahahahahahaha! Fix it. Hahahahahahaha! I've decided THERE IS NO FIX. It can't be done. Some kids just wake up and feel the need to let you know about it.
I feel your pain. I laugh so that I don't cry. At 12:30. Every night.
I wish I knew the answer! My girls go in spats of night-waking. Usually it was Gracie - she'd be fine for weeks, and then for a week or two she'd wake up four times a night. Bee was never a problem...once she fell asleep. But she went through the whole climbing into Gracie's bed thing. She finally seemed to get over that this week - once she realized that she could just call for Mom instead. So now Gracie's sleeping through the night, and Bee is staying in her own bed all night, but Bee wakes up and calls for me at least twice a night. I figure I'll sleep when they go to college.
Hmm...we had that problem with Griffin. He grew out of it. Now he sleeps so soundly that he pees the bed. (Back to pull-ups.) If it's not one thing it's another.
When my kids have sleep related issues, I always turn to the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. It's solved a lot of problems for us.
I'd read what it said about this, but I've loaned the book out. Sorry!
Gavin did the same thing when he was Punkin's age...except we chalked it up to a new baby in the house, until two of my nephews did it right at the beginning of age 3 as well. Maybe it's a growth-spurt or something not letting her sleep soundly?
BTW, I tagged you...though I seem to remember you tagged me first...wonder if it's the same meme. :D
Oh, and happy birthday, again. ;)
I unfortunately have no tips because my kids are reasonably good sleepers, and when they do wake up, they usually call out for their Dad, and/or I pretend to still be asleep. I wish you luck.
PS - I tagged you on my blog for an award. Hope it brightens your day!
Boy-Child#2 used to wake up every night like clock work to go potty. But apparently he thought it necessary to wake me up to let me know. He finally just sort of stopped doing it. I wish I had answers for you.
I can only offer my sympathies. I'm starting to wonder if it's a younger child thing. Birdie didn't do this, but Little Brother has been waking in the night off and on for spells for the last few years. Exhaustion has just become a way of life...
The good news is that after it goes on long enough you will be able to develop an accommodating sleep pattern and nod right back off. The bad news is I have no idea what to do. It seems to me this happened to me with one of the girls, except she was still in the crib. It didn't last long, though.
Chin up!
Peaches does this at 4.30am. Via the monitor, I hear her say, 'Ducky... My ducky... My ducky NOW.'
I have to go down two flights of stairs to her, pick up the duck which is RIGHT NEXT TO HER. Tell her to sleep and then traipse back UP two flights of stairs. Ugh.
My only tactic is to tell her it's sleep time - I'm trying to remind her that she CAN get herself back to sleep.
Even if she wants to go to the toilet (curses for potty training a two year old), I don't turn the light on. She goes on the potty in the dark - all the while, I tell her it's sleep time.
My best tip? Hold on tight to the bannister when on the stairs, keep your eyes mostly shut and don't let yourself wake up too much.
Post a Comment