Well, we’re headed to Chuck E. Cheese’s tomorrow. David made it through his first night not wearing a pull-up, and woke up dry as a bone.
David’s very excited. I’m dreading it a little bit. Joann Fabric is right next door. Wade and I just may leave David and Daddie behind, and wander over there for a while.
It’s the noise mostly that bothers me.
The loud music. The children screaming to be heard over the loud music. The other children screaming to be heard over the children screaming to be heard over the music.
I guess I’m getting old and crotchety.
But I am a little less cranky, because Wade had a much better night last night.
And so did I.
He he laid down at 7 p.m., still woke up at 4 a.m., but I got him back to sleep in less than 20 minutes without feeding him. He slept until 7 after that. I hope this is the beginning of many more good nights.
Wade started teething the last couple days too which might have a bit to do with him not sleeping so well. I can definitely feel the sharp point of a tooth on the bottom poking through, and there are two more just peeking through on the top. But he isn’t very fussy over it. He just had a little episode yesterday afternoon, and Tylenol seemed to take care of it.
Wade is down for the night now, and I stuffed him full of cereal again.
Now, I’m gonna go see if I can find some ear plugs to take with me to Chuck E. Cheese’s tomorrow.
Well, Wade did not sleep through the night.
He woke up at 3 a.m, and decided that he was going to be wide awake until 5 a.m. He wasn’t fussing or crying. He was just wide awake. Smiling and laughing, in spite of my best efforts to ignore his cute little antics.
It would probably help if he didn’t fall asleep at 5:30 in the evening. I know part of the problem is this stupid Daylight Savings Time.
Dear Congress:
On behalf of mothers everywhere, please repeal DST and stop screwing up our children’s bedtimes!
That is all.
Thank you.
Ditching DST would be so much more popular that this health care reform they’re working on.
The cronies on Capital Hill could really use the brownie points right about now anyway. They think these Town Hall Meetings about the Public Option get heated? They ought to throw themselves into the ring with a bunch of sleep deprived mothers, and discuss Falling Back and Springing Forward.
They would be crying all the way back to D.C.
Anyway, I digress.
I have no problem getting Wade to go to sleep at the beginning of the night. I can lay him down awake, and he’s out in a few minutes. But for some reason at 3 or 4 a.m. he just will not go back to bed even with rocking, singing and promises of cash money.
It’s making me crazy!
Wade’s done this pretty much all along. I figured he had his days and nights mixed up a little. And I was sure he would out grow it by now.
Wade didn’t get sleepy until after 7 o’ clock tonight, and I stuffed him full of rice cereal and formula. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that he’ll make it to at least 6 a.m.
I can do six.
I can’t do three or four.
Five is pushing it.
I’m just so tired.
And tired of getting up in the middle of the night. And tired of going through the day tired. I feel like I’ve been tired forever. Last year at this time I miserable and tired with morning sickness.
I’m tired of complaining about being tired.
I just want to feel good again.
Blah.
That’s how I feel right now.
Just blah.
Everything isn’t all bad.
David is thriving in spite of his cranky, bleary-eyed mother.
David woke up seven mornings in a row with a dry pull-up. Tonight he’s sleeping in his underwear for the first time. I think his night-wetting issues may be behind him. If he makes it through tonight, he gets to go to Chuck E. Cheese’s.
I hate Chuck E. Cheese’s.
I truly believe Chuck E. Cheese’s is the fifth circle of hell.
But David loves it, and if Chuck saves me from spending $30 a month on pull-ups, then it’s worth it.
Oh my word. Wouldn’t tonight be the best night ever if Wade sleeps until six and David wakes up dry?
If that happens I might even crack a smile before I have my coffee in the morning.
Well, I feel a little better today than yesterday. I was tired, and everything, even housework seems insurmountable when you’re tired.
I really think I could get myself a bit more organized, and caught up on things if I could just get Wade to sleep through the night.
I was spoiled by David who’s gone to bed consistently at 8:30 every night almost since the day he was born, and started sleeping through the night at four months.
I don’t remember really doing anything special to help David accomplish that. I simply followed his cues, and he put himself on a schedule.
If David cried I feed him. If he yawned and rubbed his eyes, I laid him down. He was hungry every four hours on the dot every day. His appetite was hardy, and it wasn’t long before he ate enough during the day to sleep through the night. About the same time David started sleeping thought he night, he started napping at regular intervals as well.
I laid David down one evening a few days after he turned four months old, and woke up to his cries the next morning at 6:30 feeling unusually rested. It took me a few minutes to comprehend what happened. I looked at the clock, and realized I hadn’t made my routine 3 a.m. visit to his room with bottle in hand. He slept 10 hours straight that night, and has every night since.
Wade on the other hand is consistent only in that he is completely inconsistent.
I’ve been using the same strategy with Wade, but his cues are all over the place. One day he eats every three hours, another day it’s every five hours, another day it’s every four, then it’s back to every three. Sometimes he naps for a long time in the morning, sometimes it’s a long time in the afternoon. One night he’s up until 9, the next he’s out at 6.
Yesterday Wade ate every four hours, and finished off the bottles. He actually slept for a solid six hours, from 12:30 to 6:30 a.m. He did great again today until he fell asleep at 5:30, while we were eating dinner. So tonight I broke a cardinal rule of mine. I woke up Wade, who was sound asleep, at 7:30 to feed him.
I usually say let sleeping babies lie, but I’m ready to do anything to get Wade on a schedule, and sleeping through the night. It’s been a long six months, and I want to sleep again.
He’s back to sleep now, and if I need to I’m going to wake him one more time to feed him at 11:30.
We’ll see if this works.
How did you get your kids on a schedule and sleeping through the night?
