Tuesday, January 26, 2010

rantings of a sleep deprived mom

He woke up at 4:30 again this morning. Two days in a row. And. he's been in a good mood each time, chattering away in his room instead of crying.  Which is usually a good thing... just not at 4:30am.

Two days in a row, which means yesterday wasn't a fluke.  Which means this might be a new norm. God help me.

I don't know what to do.  I'm so tired of making these decisions based on guesses, all of it trial and error, and having no clue if I'm actually doing the right thing or not.  I thought he maybe needed a later bedtime,m so we tried that. He still woke up early and seemed tired all day. So I moved it back to his original 7pm, and now he's waking up even earlier and still seems tired all day.

I feel like Blinkin from "Men in Tights."

"Blinkin, what are you doing up there?"
"I'm... guessing?  I guess no one's coming?"

I ordered that toddler alarm clock yesterday, which should be here in a couple days, and maybe that will help. Or maybe not. As long as he still wakes up at this godawful hour, even if he plays quietly in his room he's still gonna wake us up, since our bedroom are right next to each other and we have to keep the doors open to prevent either room from becoming an icicle overnight.

And the biggest problem is still that he's so friggin tired.  Maybe if he took a longer daytime nap it would help, but he refuses.

And so I feel like throwing up my hands because I really don't know what to do, and am so damn tired of this guessing game. Except I can't, b/c I'm still the mom and I'm still in charge.

At least I made it to bed at 8pm last night, since I was so exhausted from the day/night before.  And at least D didn't wake up any last night.  Guess I should try to focus on the silver linings.  Otherwise I'll just drive myself crazy.

7 comments:

  1. Came over after seeing your tweet. (That sounded very odd.) Do you have access to an indoor pool? Nothing kicks a little lads arse like a good, long swim. They don't know what hit them. My son refused to sleep through the night until he was four-ish. I later learned about melatonin. I was already beyond the point of no return in the sleep deprivation department, waking up out of habit, even after the kiddo finally slept through the night.

    Good luck! Sleep deprivation is every moms nemesis!

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  2. I feel for you. My 9-1/2 month old has yet to sleep through the night. Just a thought: I know the sound of your little one playing wakes you, but maybe he'll settle back to sleep on his own if you leave him be. I used to jump everytime my baby made a noise. The problem was she did it so often. Lately I've been leaving her in her crib until she cries. I figure she'll cry when she needs me. Other than that, she'll just talk to herself for a little bit and fall back asleep.
    I hope things settle diwn for your little one so you can get more sleep. I'm so glad I stopped by your blog. I've been following you on Twitter.

    Kristi, Live and Love...Out Loud
    @TweetingBaby

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  3. eeep! 4:30 is so early.
    i hope D takes a long nap today. :)

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  4. Oh boy...that would not fly with me! G was getting up early for awhile but then we decided that it was too early and choose a time that was acceptable. Now we don't go into her room until at least 6am...and she often sleeps until 6:30-7am. Sometimes she'll wake and cry for a couple of minutes, realize we're not coming and settle back down...but we started with what I call "CIO-lite" at about 9 months. We also got better about putting her down at the same time...and pushed that earlier to 7pm - although I know moms that put their kids to bed at 6-6:30...or even earlier! Implementing the earlier bedtime and stay in bed "rule" took about a week to even out but it was worth it! Of course what works for one is sure to bust the other but it might be work a shot... :) Good luck!

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  5. Kara Whitten9:37 AM

    I am so sorry! I could not imagine getting up that early! Please take this with a grain of salt as I know that I am not at that point yet and have not had to deal with a 2 year old. But when I was reading online to figure out what to do about Madeline's sleeping habits (not going to bed until 5 in the morning - We sure do have opposites), I read a lot of moms saying that although it seems against logic their kids slept better and slept in longer when they were put down earlier. So instead of keeping D up late to get him to sleep in longer, try putting him to bed at 6 or 6:30 or just increase the bed time by 15 min each night and see what happens. Even if he still wakes up a 4:30 he will be less tired. Just a thought :)

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  6. Wait, isn't 4:30 your time about 6:30 my time?

    Give that kid your phone, and have him call me when he wakes up. I'll chat with him until at least 8:30 my time, 6:30 your time, so you can stay in bed until at least sometime close to DAWN.

    Because this 4:30 AM business??

    That's madness.

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  7. Hope the alarm has been helpful. I'm trying to work, so won't call you. LOVE YOU!!
    PS reading all the comments,(I liked Criss's best;) you see how up in the air it is,figuring out kids' sleeping routines: definitely art not science though probably more magic than art....

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