My head has many words swirling in it today; foggy, fuzzy, groggy, dazed, cloudy, muzzy, hazy, foggy (wait, did I say foggy already?).
Yes, my blog reading friends, once again I blog about that one thing in the world that we probably all need more of: SLEEP!
I knew before I became a parent I wasn't going to get much sleep. Everyone I talked to who had kids, told me the same thing. "Enjoy sleep now, because once the baby is here you won't sleep for 18 years!".
I have always suffered from insomnia and thus the nickname "Nightowl" so I figured I could hack it. I had a lot of pain during my pregnancy which caused me to be awake a lot at night. Again I was told, "This was the baby preparing me for not getting sleep."
Then Carebear was born.
I quickly realized that insomnia and pain during the night was NOTHING compared to having a baby! NOTHING!
There is a HUGE difference between not being able to sleep and not being able to sleep because of a baby! With a baby, it's not because you "just can't sleep", you can sleep, man can you sleep. You're so exhausted that you could probably pass out ANYWHERE at ANY TIME if given the chance. The difference is that someone won't let you sleep! :( This beautiful bundle of joy you called precious is now the cause of sleepless nights and exhausting days.
It's the mind numbing constant "Wake up Mom, wake up Mom, wake up Mom, wake up Mom." Whether this comes in the form of words (with older kids) or cries of a baby, it's all the same message. You're exhausted and ready to pass out and yet this little bundle of joy is not letting you sleep, night after sleepless night.
Carebear was a terrible sleeper (as I've mentioned before in numerous posts) but before B-Man was born she got into an awesome rhythm where she slept all the way through the night, every night. It was so good, since I was very pregnant and very exhausted. After he was born she continued to do awesome which helped so much with a newborn, but since the big move in September her sleep schedule is all over the place and she often wakes up crying :(
B-Man has never been a good sleeper :( and continues to not be :( we're always in the process of trying new things to help him sleep longer and better but nothing has worked yet. :(
Every time I hear people complain about being tired, or "not getting enough sleep last night" I want to kick them. Enough sleep, what is that? What is enough? Eight hours? Seven? What are these foreign number you people speak of? Because getting more than 3 hours of sleep in a row is what I call a full night sleep these days!
I know this is just a phase and that one day I'm sure our little chicks will sleep better, but until then sleepless nights cause us to live in a constant fog.
Showing posts with label tired. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tired. Show all posts
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Evil Co-sleeping and why I do it!
I am one of those dreaded co-sleepers you hear about.
I'm not a hippy, new aged, or "Crunchy" Mommy, I'm a Mom that finds something that works and does it. I'll try most anything and as long as it works and sits right with me, I'll do it.
You really do act differently with each child and the difference between Carebear and B-Man are HUGE! I was terrified about everything with Carebear! I think back now to how paranoid I was with her and laugh. I was a new Mom, with zero experience and a TON of advice from EVERYONE who thought they should give it! I had so many mixed messages, so much contradicting information that I never knew what to really think.
I learned quickly that what you SHOULD do is what works for you!
One of those areas was sleep!!
Carebear (like a lot of babies) was a terrible sleeper. She would wake up every 30 to 40 minutes each night, and we were exhausted! I had no idea what to do, or how to do it. I read lots of books, and listened to advice but nothing seemed to work.
One thing that did was co-sleeping. I would put Carebear on the bed with me and Mr. Rooster would sleep in the spare room. This also worked so that Mr. Rooster could actually get some sleep for work the next day.
We did this for a long time and although it didn't stop her from waking every few hours, it did help me get some sleep because I didn't have to get up , walk across the room, get her back to sleep and then go back to bed. I could just settle her and then pass back out.
We got a lot of grief from family about this arrangement so we just kept it to ourselves most of the time. But it worked. We got sleep at night and that was the most important thing.
We were told that if we co-slept that Carebear would NEVER be able to sleep in her own room or bed!
Well, in the end, Carebear from the age of 13 months has slept happily in her own room, in her own bed! We take her up, get her dressed, do her bedtime routine, put her in bed, say good night, close the door and she'll play in her room till she falls asleep, no fuss, and it takes us less than 10 minutes each night (longer on bath nights).
It's simple and easy. Nap time is the same way, no fuss!
So, I guess that co-sleeping wasn't as EVIL as we were told it was, and the end result is what most parents dream of - easy bedtime!
With B-Man I felt the pressure again not to co-sleep and so he was put into his crib from day one! I didn't mind so much but again, just like his sister he is a terrible sleeper, and was up even more often. :(
We tried a bunch of different things but the past week the only sleep relief I get is to co-sleep with him.
Not what I had planned but you do what works.
I try to be as safe as possible, and I am such a light sleeper that even the smallest noise or movement wakes me up. He sleeps far from me, spread out on the bed with no pillows or blankets near him. He does spend the first half of the night in his crib but the second half seems to be rough on him so he's up a lot and comes to bed with me.
I'm not sure if he'll continue to co-sleep, but if he does, I don't mind. The most important part for me is getting sleep, precious, precious sleep!
I try not to listen to peoples "advice" now. We each do what we think is best for our little ones. We all have different ways of doing things, but we all do what works for us!
I'm not a hippy, new aged, or "Crunchy" Mommy, I'm a Mom that finds something that works and does it. I'll try most anything and as long as it works and sits right with me, I'll do it.
You really do act differently with each child and the difference between Carebear and B-Man are HUGE! I was terrified about everything with Carebear! I think back now to how paranoid I was with her and laugh. I was a new Mom, with zero experience and a TON of advice from EVERYONE who thought they should give it! I had so many mixed messages, so much contradicting information that I never knew what to really think.
For each study that said you shouldn't there were an equal amount that said you should.
I learned quickly that what you SHOULD do is what works for you!
One of those areas was sleep!!
Carebear (like a lot of babies) was a terrible sleeper. She would wake up every 30 to 40 minutes each night, and we were exhausted! I had no idea what to do, or how to do it. I read lots of books, and listened to advice but nothing seemed to work.
One thing that did was co-sleeping. I would put Carebear on the bed with me and Mr. Rooster would sleep in the spare room. This also worked so that Mr. Rooster could actually get some sleep for work the next day.
We did this for a long time and although it didn't stop her from waking every few hours, it did help me get some sleep because I didn't have to get up , walk across the room, get her back to sleep and then go back to bed. I could just settle her and then pass back out.
We got a lot of grief from family about this arrangement so we just kept it to ourselves most of the time. But it worked. We got sleep at night and that was the most important thing.
We were told that if we co-slept that Carebear would NEVER be able to sleep in her own room or bed!
Well, in the end, Carebear from the age of 13 months has slept happily in her own room, in her own bed! We take her up, get her dressed, do her bedtime routine, put her in bed, say good night, close the door and she'll play in her room till she falls asleep, no fuss, and it takes us less than 10 minutes each night (longer on bath nights).
It's simple and easy. Nap time is the same way, no fuss!
So, I guess that co-sleeping wasn't as EVIL as we were told it was, and the end result is what most parents dream of - easy bedtime!
With B-Man I felt the pressure again not to co-sleep and so he was put into his crib from day one! I didn't mind so much but again, just like his sister he is a terrible sleeper, and was up even more often. :(
We tried a bunch of different things but the past week the only sleep relief I get is to co-sleep with him.
Not what I had planned but you do what works.
I try to be as safe as possible, and I am such a light sleeper that even the smallest noise or movement wakes me up. He sleeps far from me, spread out on the bed with no pillows or blankets near him. He does spend the first half of the night in his crib but the second half seems to be rough on him so he's up a lot and comes to bed with me.
I'm not sure if he'll continue to co-sleep, but if he does, I don't mind. The most important part for me is getting sleep, precious, precious sleep!
I try not to listen to peoples "advice" now. We each do what we think is best for our little ones. We all have different ways of doing things, but we all do what works for us!
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