I absolutely dread his bedtime. Dan and I use to take turns but he has been freaking out unless I do it and I would rather do it then hear him screaming. Anyway, a short example. The other night we brushed his teeth, said or prayers and I started reading to him at about 8:20. After reading and then singing to him to get him to wind down I leave his room about 8:45. Within about 5 minutes of me leaving we hear him jumping in his bed saying "no bed, no bed." "Mommy, daddy" and then just jibber jabbering until..... are you ready for this folks, 9:45. What time was he up the next morning, oh I think it was 5:30 or 5:45. Seriously, it is killing us. Dan doesn't even get home until 7 at night so I can't really try putting him to bed much earlier unless I don't want him to see Dan. So after we eat dinner and they play we are trying to get him to bed around 8 ish and then around 9 or later he will finally fall asleep.
He does still nap and i have been considering trying to get rid of the nap to see if that is the problem. Unfortunately, I think i might injure him if I don't get a brake from him in the day. Don't judge. In fact yesterday I woke him up early from his nap in fear he wouldn't go to sleep at night. It was the hardest thing for me b/c i cherish his nap time. And it didn't help. In fact it led to a break down for me and him.
Dan was gone to a meeting and it was about 8:30 and I was trying to get him to bed. I leave his room about 8:50 and he starts screaming. Anyway, I tried to just sing to him while he laid in his crib b/c i refused to get him out and then I got frustrated and said "Sam if you don't quit fooling around, lay down and go to sleep I am going to leave." He said " okay mommy, leave." I repeated it over and over and told him that I would not come back in if I left. He then again said "leave mommy." Don't mind if I do child. I left and he instantly starting crying for me. I started crying b/c it was now 9 p.m. and I knew he was going to be up around 6. It's just exhausting! I think he finally fell asleep around 9:30, I don't know for sure b/c I was working in the basement.
Is it crazy to say that I am looking forward to a newborn? For me the first year of Sam's sleeping life was easy, peasy. He woke up, I nursed him and he fell back asleep. Am I worried about having a newborn and getting no sleep, NOT A CHANCE! I am worried about having a newborn AND a 2 1/2 year old child who is an insomniac, yes. Heaven help me!
Sam should have been a twin. He really struggles playing with himself. I try not to feel guilty about not playing with him all day. I will play with him one on one for a straight hour and then if I try to get something done he will just whine and say "come on, come on, play with me." Oh it gets annoying. There is no way that I can just play with him all day long, I would get nothing done. I'm just trying to get some quality time in with him and then let him whine the rest of the time. I feel really bad but what do you do? Any suggestions would be awesome!
Lucky for him the kid is absolutely hilarious. Here are a few of our favorite phrases from him lately:
-"What are you guys talking about." He will ask this every time I am talking to anybody and laughing or saying 'no way', etc. It is so stinking cute.
-"Come on cowboy." We have no idea where he got it but it's pretty funny.
-"Happy Now?"- Sam has a temper and he hits, scratches, and slaps when he gets upset or I tell him no. I give him 'the look' and he knows that I am ticked. He will say over and over 'happy now' until i tell him I'm happy or smile. He knows that he has to say sorry before I will be happy so he will usually say
"sorry, mama, happy now?" he still has to go to time out for it and while in time out he will scream "I'm ready to say sorry now, say sorry now, sorry mama" Still have to pay your time kid!
-"Oh sorry about that." I didn't know where he got that until the other day I ran into him or dropped something and said "oops, sorry about that." Now I know where he got it.
-"Move car, hurry car" or "come on lady or come on car." I definitely know he got that from me. He does say "good job car" which I know he didn't get from me.
He talks a ton now and I love it. Now it's like full on conversation like "What mommy, what do you need." I will ask him a question and he will say "because mommy or maybe mommy." He says too much for me to write it all but I do want to try write down my favorite phrases.
4 comments:
ACK! early morning risers are so hard - our friends have kids that have woken up early their whole lives and still do (don't worry - after a while you don't have to get up with them anymore because they can take care of themselves). I don't know if it is a coincidence or not, but all our kids sleep in and I think it is because we don't get up - so when they were little and would wake up early I would either ignore them until 7 or just bring them into my bed and still just lounge around (not getting up, gettig breakfast, etc -although the babies want a drink.. ). I know that woudl be hard for you because you are up working out, but you have to jump back in bed and pretend like you were still sleeping! Anyway, don't know if that is just who they are, or if that helped them sleep in? also, I think you were right that putting him to bed earlier might help. I hate to say it, but for your sanity he might just have to miss his daddy some nights - maybe he coudl play with him in the morning instead? Good luck!!
Oh Em, I am so sorry this is such a struggle for you! I don't really know any tricks considering I only have a 12 month old and he is a great sleeper. The one thing that I attribute it to though, is the Babywise books. They have other books as well (I'm actually waiting for Toddlerwise to come in the mail). I know they have a Childwise book too that could be helpful. I haven't read it, but it might be worth a shot. Either way, I think you should rope some grandparents into babysitting for a weekend, and us adults can go down to St George for a relaxing weekend. It sounds like you could use some time away. What do you think????
Em we finally had to let drake cry it out. He screamed for 2 hours straight- no joke!- but now he knows we won't get him even if he is crying. We haven't had a problem since. Good luck!!!
I feel your pain sister. In the summer the sun rises at 5:15. When the sun is up, so are my kids because we don't have daylight savings.... HOWEVER, they go to bed at 7. You are in a tough situation :( Kenzi stopped napping right around 2 1/2. I needed a break for the same reason as you, so I wouldn't hurt her! I instilled quiet time. Set a timer for 1 hour and lock their door. Sounds harsh, but they get used to it. Kenzi is 4 now and still has quiet time everyday. She knows the drill. Infact, she locks her own door and puts herself in quiet time. Good luck! That is rough stuff!
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