Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Sleep

I have always realized that sleep is very important to me. I need tons of sleep. I'd say a good 9 hours to feel well rested (preferably between 10-7). When I don't get my 9 hours a night, I tend to get cranky and have headaches and things just aren't good. I can't remember the last time I got 9 hours of sleep. It wasn't until I started having kids that I realized how important sleep is, though.

I have found that the quality of my day is contingent more upon the amount of sleep my children get than anything else. Unfortunately, I don't have good sleepers. I've heard of these people who have kids that take naps and sleep through the night, I'd like to know where you get them from. Am I doing something wrong over here? Lizzy slept through the night really well until she was about 4 months old, then it was all over. Jane got pretty good at sleeping for a while, but she'll go through phases when she can't make it through the night, this is one of those phases. She doesn't get to bed without hysterics, doesn't usually actually get to sleep before 10:00 or 10:30 and generally her daddy bribes her with one thing or another to get her to be quiet. She cries out in the night and comes in our bed with us, then cries more when she has to go back to her room and usually just comes back in. Couple her issues with Lizzy, who can cry for a good 2 hours before she'll give up (because she wants a bottle) and we aren't getting a whole lot of sleep lately. The real problem is that when those girls don't sleep, they are whiny, weepy, they throw themselves on the ground in tears at every turn, if they don't get, like, the right cup (quickly enough) a tantrum ensues and on and on. My mom used to say the little nursery rhyme to me, when I was little

there was a little girl
who had a little curl
right in the middle of her forehead
and when she was good
she was very very good
and when she was bad she horrid

That is seriously the way my kids are. They can be my little angels, but without sleep, they are unmanageable. We've GOT to get this under control before we have a newborn or I'll just have to give up on sleep and good days entirely. Any suggestions?

Even as much as they can infuriate me, how can you not love these little faces in their jammies?




Good thing I love them so much.
This morning, it's 9:00 and they are still sleeping (knock on wood). Let's hope they stay that way for a lot longer. Oh, nevermind. I just heard slamming doors, lots of tears and cries for 'mama'. sigh.

6 comments:

Danielle said...

I wish that I could help you! It is so hard to enjoy any part of the day when everyone is grumpy. Just remember that post from a while back when Jane told her little friends "I love my mommy." You are a great mom Laura!

kathy kimball said...

I guess all I can say is, and I'm sure you do this, but trying to be consistent usually helps me - Jax had a hard time sleeping when we got here, but after 2 days, he was fine. I just kept him in the crib when he should be there, not necessarily when he wanted to be there :). But so far Jonah has been my worst night sleeper, and that only lasted about 6 months. My boys are pretty great night sleepers. Good luck to you - I can only imagine how it would be to have that AND be pregnant - you are a good woman, Laura!

MaryAnn said...

I understand and sympathize with your situation. Megas is a pretty good sleeper (thanks to being a thumb sucker), but Lauren is not. Shannon is the queen of getting her kids to stay in their beds - I always ask her for pointers.

Anonymous said...

So sorry things are great in the sleeping department. Dylan and Abbie are awesome sleepers, but Scott totally isn't. He still wakes up in the night. If he wakes up only once in the night I consider myself lucky. I wish I had the solution for you, but I totally don't. Maybe Charlie will really rock at sleeping!

Lynda/Mom said...

Even me, the insomniac, could not survive if the kids wouldn't sleep. No matter how rested you are, you need breathing time without kids after you all day. Hang in there, Sweetie; it will get better.

Lynda/Mom said...

Darling pictures of the girls. The poem: last line is
. . .And when she was bad she WAS horrid!
So true for you, Sweetie.