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Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Incoherent

Hi there. If this whole post sounds incredibly messy and incoherent and like it is coming from a woman suffering from severe sleep deprivation, well, I apologize.

After Thanksgiving, Hubby and I knew we needed to do some serious sleep training with our little PetePete. It isn't so much that she would not sleep, as it was how it took over 2 hours some nights to get her calmed down enough to actually lie down in her bed rather than run laps. Prior to the Transition from the Pacifier, we had a model sleeper who put herself to sleep every night at 7 PM and woke at approximately 7 AM every single night. We knew we were spoiled. After the Transition from the Pacifier, we had a child who would basically scream at the top of her lungs unless she was being held/rocked/given a drink/etc. But at LEAST we had a child who would eventually actually SLEEP. After consulting with many wise women and my doctor, we came up with a sleep-training plan.

Friday night I had every intention of implementing the plan. I really did. But when I picked Reagan up from the sitter I could tell something was off. That night she began exhibiting more signs of offness. Saturday morning it was clear that she had a cold. This did not really phase me all that much. Reagan has had a cold before. We managed just fine. I expected a similar experience. I was almost relieved to cancel our Saturday night plans and just spend my day at home with Hubby and Reagan. I baked and frosted cutout sugar cookies. I worked diligently on my Christmas cards. I sorted and hung up maternity clothes in the place of my "regular" clothes. I got a lot done, but I was very tired by the end of the day.

And then Saturday night, we were befuddled when our daughter woke up at 11:30 p.m. and did not go back to sleep until 2:30 a.m. Ouch. I attended Sunday morning services by my lonesome while the other two stayed home to relax. Also, we had no desire to spread our little one's nasty germies to the hundreds of people at our church. Sunday night, Hubby attended services while I stayed home with a wonderfully well-behaved, but snot-filled, little girl.

Here's where my details get a little fuzzy...I know in one of the next few nights, she was awake from 2:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. When she did fall asleep, she fell asleep standing up, slumped over the seat of the recliner in our living room. Sounds horrible, doesn't it? I would have taken a picture had I been able to remember my name or what year it was. Side note: do not move my child to what you would deem a "more comfortable position" should you find her sleeping standing up. It will result in tears...for Mom and child. Leave. Her. Be.

Last night we were desperately hoping for a reprieve - for some rest. But I'm afraid it did not go a lot better than any of the other fuzzy nights. My friends, we are all very very tired people. And I have to be honest, I have some panic-stricken moments where I realize in about 6 months we will be adding a newborn (translation: non-sleeping tiny human being) into this mix and, I, well, I freak out a little bit.

We'd really love to tackle all this sleep training in the near future, but with the approaching holidays and our travel plans, it does not look promising. For now, I would totally 100% immediately gladly settle for a child who is not ill, even if that means long bedtimes. Currently, our predicament is kicking our collective butts. So if you have a spare minute, we would GREATLY appreciate your prayers for our little sicky. And perhaps, a few for us, too.

Now back to drooling on my keyboard.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Add us in your prayers as well. Our little 2 yr old hasn't slept through the night but maybe 5 times her whole life, and now she even wakes up her sister. I haven't had a nights sleep for over two years...and it doesn't look promising anytime soon. I have tried ALL the advice given. The Dr. just says that some are sleepers and some aren't. Swell advice...right? I will be praying for you when I'm up 2-4 times a night. :)

Laura K. said...

Bennett went through that for a while - - not nearly this bad, mind you... and we're stll letting him have a pacifier at night... but he'd wake up, cry, a few times each night (sorry to tell you he did fall back asleep within 10 minutes). My sister (tooth lady) said oh, he's probably getting his 2-year molars. give him tylenol before bedtime. YAY! sleeping through the night again. There are times I've given him medicine in the middle of the night too, not full dose, but just a tad to make him feel better. He sleeps heavier.
Anyway - - maybe Reagan is having toothaches or earaches? maybe not though. Maybe you are just cursed. Prayers be with you!!!!

all up in each others bizness said...

hang in there,i'm on the other side of the fence....it does come........i put in my YEARS of sleep deprivation....

let reagan cry it out........even if its 8 hours....surely the next night she will only be able to cry 6...then 4...etc....she will be ok....and she will never remember it :) Had to do this with my first.....and rounding the corner at 8 years old now she still barely sleeps........up later then us most nights(why i oughta)but at least she doesn't cry about it,lol simply stays quiet while making a craft or what not(insert eye rolling)


maybe this baby will be agreat sleeper...my second one was...sleeping through the night by 2 weeks........in his own room in crib the 3rd week.......dream child.......not to say i haven't had burps(like 6 months ago when he was getting up at 2am,for the day,grrrrrr)

Miz Jean said...

We actually medicated Reagan with Ibuprofen (Tylenol doesn't work very well with her) all throughout her cold and it made no difference.

The reason she wasn't sleeping was because of her cold - so we did have to take some pity on her. Otherwise, we would certainly have let her cry it out. With this cold, she would cry/scream and then cough a LOT - to the point of gagging. So we didn't want to go through our sleep training while she was sick.

The good news is that she is getting over the cold and our latest efforts in bedtime "sleep training" have been a HUGE success!

Anonymous said...

You'll have to tell me this sleep training method so I can tuck it away for future use. Claire sleeps really well at night right now, but who knows what the future holds.

Angie