Wednesday, May 04, 2011

Can I just vent for a bit?

You may wanna skip this post. It's mainly me bitching about what a sucky napper Quinn has been lately.  I just need to vent, and also kinda want to record this now so I can look back on it later and be reminded of how things used to be and how much better they become (I know this is all a phase, the question is how long it'll take to pass).

Sleep? Pshaw! Who needs sleep?!
A few times we've started settling into a sort of decent nap "routine."  Each time it's lasted a few days, maybe a week or two, then *poof* it all goes away.  The past couple weeks have been the worst.  It used to be I could get him to take a couple of short naps in his bed during the day. Not always, but most days.  I think I've gotten him to take maybe two 20-30 minute naps in his bed in the past week or 2. I'm not exaggerating.  He'll sleep in my arms while nursing, while worn in a carrier, and sometimes in the stroller.  That's. It.

I try to nurse him lying down, pulling away once he was fully asleep, mouth relaxed. Each time as soon as I pulled away, he'd start rooting again and wake up.  He sometimes will sleep for an hour or more while I hold him, but stay latched on the entire time.  He's way more sensitive to noise and disruption now, so if D is around he can't really fall asleep.  What I've been doing is putting on a video for D, then taking Q up to his room, closing the blinds, bundling him, sometimes using white noise, and nurse/rock him to sleep.  Sometimes he gets a decent nap this way. Other times D will get bored of his video and come up to see us, which effectively means the end of nap time.  Explaining to him that I need his help to help Q sleep doesn't seem to do anything.  The hardest part about this is that I'll start feeling angry at D for waking his brother up, but I also can't fault him for wanting to be around us.

Babywearing naps work ok, though it can take a good bit of walking & dancing around to get him asleep.  These work best when we're out somewhere.

D still takes a good 1-1.5hr nap most days, which I tend to spend rocking Q to get him a decent nap, too, so he's not as grumpy the rest of the day (or for the next hour or 2 before he gets tired again).

Tired baby is tired.
At least he sleeps well at night.  He falls asleep anywhere between 8-9pm most nights.  Occasionally it's quick, other times it takes a good hour or 2 to get him fully asleep.  The past couple weeks he's been waking only once or twice to eat, then is up by about 6 or 7am.  I know we're lucky with his nighttime sleep.  I'm very, very grateful for it, as otherwise I think I'd lose my mind.  (Of course, as I write all this, I also know that it's very likely we'll hit another up-every-two-hours phase soon, as they seem to cycle in every so often)

So, yeah. As you can imagine, this makes for pretty long days, even on the days when I have the nanny to help with D.  Honestly, I don't think I'd even mind the no-breaks-all-day-long thing (as much) if it seemed like Q was happy with the sleep he gets. Instead he seems tired and cranky a lot of the time, which makes everything that much more frustrating.

To top it all off?  Zach's about to start a bunch of long days at work and then go to Ohio for a week.  So starting tomorrow and through the next 2 weeks, I'll be on my own through the kids' bedtimes.  This should be... interesting.

3 comments:

  1. Oh geez... Hang in there! It sounds like you're doing everything you can to help Quinn sleep. Keep at it and hopefully something will work itself out soon.

    It's too bad you live so far away. On days when Brian is working late, I call up my parents and one of them comes to help me with the dinner/bath/bed routine. Can your nanny maybe work a few more hours these next two weeks? Just an idea. Either way, my advice is to Get Some Help!

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  2. I am so sorry! I hope his napping improves - and I am impressed that D still naps, Finn stopped almost a year ago, and I wish he still did!

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  3. Juana3:13 PM

    hi! i found your blog a few days ago through another blog and bookmarked it b/c it seemed interesting. i finally found time to read some of it today. i'm so glad i stumbled on it. i can relate to so many of your post... this one especially. i feel like I can just sub in my daughter's name for almost every time you mention Q. she's such a lousy napper, it drives me crazy some days. i'm glad to know that someone out there feels the same way i do.

    hang in there!

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