Saturday, June 27, 2009

Sleep is for the Weak

*if you do not care to read about our sleep issues of a 1 yr old Skip this post - go ahead - Really ..Skip it!

I probably should wait a few more days to write about this. When I have stopped crying about it and When I can begin to think rationally.

Everything is fine - Except our nap/bedtime routine. It WAS fine, Until 2 weeks ago. Like I have mentioned:
Naps are all over the place these days, Never really consistent even If I try/plead/beg/be consistent ...

Top Molars have broken through, Bottom molars still seem to be making our lives miserable. Bed time SUCKS. I am SO OVER teething! Bedtime has never sucked for us, so this is my first experience. I am not sure what to even do about it. We have always done: Dinner, Bath, bottle, book routine for months now. But the past 2ish weeks, There has been resistance. And that resistance gets louder and louder and louder as nights have progressed. He gets to this ungodly screaming, cannot breath crying fits. Let's back up. 2 Weeks ago, He decided that he will throw his blanket/paci/lovey out of the crib at bedtime and cry (pitch a fit) about it until someone goes back in and gives it to him. At first We would wait til he was pretty upset and then go back in, hand him the things, lay him back down and THEN he would go to sleep.. No problem after the obnoxious ritual. Then I decided I was not going back in to hand him his things he threw out and did a bit of a CIO over it. And for 2-3 nights It was ok ..By ok, I mean it took 40 mins AFTER the crying started to get to sleep. So the put in crib to sleeping time was about a 90 min process. Which was also driving me bonkers. Now, CIO is not going well. Not at all! He does this "crying til I will not breath" routine for a VERY long period of time. and I am at my wits end. I know that I can take more of this but I would Not like to. I am frazzled over it and losing my rational thoughts in the process. I am having to Hold him tightly in my arms until he calms down enough to get comfortable and fall asleep. This is no fun for him, certain not fun for me and I feel years of therapy are going to be a direct correlation to this.. .... It.IS.Miserable!

To make matters worse, There have been lots of changes going on in our household (and more to come soon) and I KNOW that this is also a bit of the cause of the bedtime problem.

One problem is that my MIL is at it again. Causing too much family drama that One of E's siblings is pseudo living with us. (started this weekend) He is looking for a job here so eventually, He can just in with us. Which is another blog post all together...... Mind Swirling

I am really pleading that once the bottom molars come through, our bedtime routine will look somewhat similar as it was. On a plus side, I read that 1 yr olds really struggle with bed time due to all the new tricks they are learning and that things will get better. I just needed to get this out of my negativity spot because it was bringing me down. Because, Yes, This too shall pass.

18 comments:

Joy@WDDCH said...

Oh how I hate the bedtime battles! I really do. I have much sympathy for you because our 2 year old is starting to have screaming fits at bedtime as well.

I know that children act out before or after a new sibling arrives. Little one knows changes are coming and not to mention the teething!

Things will get straightened out. It'll be trial and error because they're no longer a baby anymore. Are you going to put him in a big bed before the baby comes? I forget how old he is. We put our oldest in a big girl bed when she was 19 months old and she did great.

Jen said...

Oh Farah, YUCK!! You are not alone is this sleep battle. Something about the 1yr old definately changes up the sleep schedule. I wish I could give you a magic answer, but alas I've got nothing. I do have the book, "healthy sleep habits, happy child", that I refer to quite a bit when we have issues.

Anonymous said...

Oh sweetie, I'm so sorry. I definitely know how hard bedtime (and naptime, for that matter) can be as Lemy HATES sleep. And she always has, so this has been a constant struggle.

Assvice here...feel free to ignore it...the only thing that worked for us with CIO was when I personally stopped going in to soothe her. Instead, when one of us HAD to go in, he went in since I'm the one that usually does the soothing and rocking, she wasn't getting that with him and by the time he went in there twice or three times she would get the message that mommy isn't coming back in. The first few nights it took about 40 minutes, but it got significantly better after that. Can E go in instead of you?

Also, I've heard that Motrin works a lot better than Tylenol for teething--from a friend whose daughter has horrible teething pain. You may already be using it, but I thought I would mention it anyway.

I hope this all gets better soon! ((MANY HUGS))

Cibele said...

I feel your pain, Bedtime has always sucked for us be has gotten worst the past 2 weeks with the molars. 2 nights ago Lyla cried non stop from 9 pm to midnight. It is so stressful. My dc said to star giving Motrin at bedtime until the 4 molars that she is working on are all out. I gave to her yesterday and helped. HUGS

HereWeGoAJen said...

Blech. I'm sorry. Hopefully it won't last long.

Jennifer said...

I'm glad to hear we aren't alone, though I'm sorry for you! My girls have been CIO for hours at a time since May.... I keep praying it will pass, and sometime it will! Perhaps since MT started just recently he won't go at it as long, for sure! Good luck!

TeamWinks said...

Sleep troubles are never fun, and I'm sure it doesn't help that you are pregnant and probably exhausted yourself. I wish I had an answer. I hope it gets better soon!

Barb said...

I'm sorry sweetie. :(

Photogrl said...

I hope sleep returns to your home soon...

((HUGS))

Caro said...

I hope things improve soon.

Anonymous said...

This reminds me of a couple Supernanny episodes I watched on TV before. I'd watch them to learn how to deal with this. Seriously! Hoping it gets better for you, Demara

Unknown said...

Oh man... we have had them so I understand. We went through a little period awhile ago that was a bit trying, but he is doing better. Hopefully this is a "phase" and it will improve VERY soon. Hang in there.

C said...

I hope it gets better very soon for all of you! You know about my sleeping issues, and he's only 3 wks, so I understand the frustration.

((((lots of hugs))))

Jill Tice said...

Oh Sister, is this what I have to look forward too??? Tanner is almost 5 so I have forgotten and Josie is still our hillbilly baby with only 4 teeth.

This too shall pass. Is that what they say? I 'll kick them for you. :o)

BIG HUGS! And don't worry, I will make sure our grandkids pay him back someday. :o)

Adriane said...

I'm sure this royally sucks. Especially going on 2 weeks - that is really hard!! I agree with some of the other commenters - I've found Motrin works much better with teething (just found out this weekend). I really hope this passes VERY soon and you all get some sleep.

Nurse Lochia said...

Oh, I know how much it sucks! Hopefully he'll get back to his sleep routine so all of you can get your rest.

Amy C said...

I feel for you...I am dying right now from this newborn sleep schedule...I am exhausted!!! So, I guess I have teething to look forward to, too :-) Hang in there..I am trying :-)

K said...

Oh no! I hate when night time routines get messed up. Hopefully peace will return soon!