Leah doesn't sleep much. At least not as much as other kids her age.
Sleep has never been a battle in our home. It's one of those things I don't choose to fight about. She's always just gone to sleep when she was tired. If she was acting horrid or anything I will tell her to lay down, etc but normally she doesn't. Once she's tired she just wants to snuggle & she goes to sleep.
But lately this is taking FOREVER. And it's getting worse not better.
Last night it took 2 hours & 40 minutes for her to fall asleep. So we got in our bed at 8 PM & she didn't finally go to sleep until 10:40.
And we did fight. I lost it after the 2 hour mark. I was sick of saying "lay down Leah" & the fact that she AT TWO has turned stalling into an ART FORM! You name it - she asked for it. "Potty more please mommy!" AHHHH I totally fell for that one. Since she's not potty trained & I don't want to tell her no about the potty. But I didn't last night after twice. She was even pulling her legs up & acting like she needed to poop. Then once she was on the potty she was all smiles and asking for wipes & toilet paper.
Finally I went & laid her in her own room, on her own bed & told her she had to stay there. I said either fall asleep there or get ready to go to sleep. She didn't cry or anything. After probably 10 minutes she must have decided I wasn't coming back because she started sobbing. So, then I went & got her. Put her in bed with me again & she went right to sleep.
Well, I don't want that to be how I get her to go to bed every night. I don't want it to be a battle!
Then she woke up twice in the next 2.5 hours having tantrums. The one at 1 AM.... I was sleeping by then of course & when she woke me up I think I was the maddest I have ever been at her.
It was not a night terror. She was fulling awake & having a massive tantrum. I told her to stop or she was going to her own bed. So she went to her own bed. When she stopped crying I went back in and she was just sitting. Reached for me saying "Mommy" and was back asleep within 2 minutes.
WHAT THE FREAK?
This morning she woke me at 7:30 and then SHE went back to sleep.
Give me a break, please. I need to sleep.
Seriously, I don't need that much sleep actually. 5/6 hours will do. But after last night a little extra would have been nice.
I normally don't mind her sleeping so little but I don't want to spend 2.5 hours putting her to bed either. I give up. She's never going to be an "asleep by _____" child. I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing until she wants to go to bed.
Maybe I shouldn't give her a nap during the day anymore?????
The thing is... naps are never a fight. She just gets tired, I say it's naptime, & she drifts off to sleep. No fight, nothin'. So why is night time such an ordeal?
I know she's tired. She gets bags under her eyes all the sudden when she's sleepy. But she's not sleepy ENOUGH.
Heaven help me.
Ideas, anyone???
Posts
It’s Not About Hate. Not Entirely.
9 years ago
3 comments:
We have a battle with our 2-year-old (Little Miss) as well. With major household construction that HAD to get done in the evening after she went to bed, her night-owl tendencies just made me burn with anger and frustration. We finally adopted the "supernanny" TV show technique of plopping her back into bed every time she got out--without negotiation, discussion, or even eye contact. It still takes an hour for her to go to sleep, but it is getting better. Most importantly, it's far less confrontational and keeps us from getting angry.
S can sometimes put up a fuss at night not wanting to sleep....but has zero problem going down for naps just like Leah. And I don't want to give up naps cause that is MY recharge time! Her routine right now is to lay in her bed with books and a little low watt light. and then she falls asleep when she is ready....giving her some control over it all. Honestly, not battling and keeping it calm usually results in her falling asleep faster.
BUT getting the calm part is HARD!!! Cause Mommy just really needs a break by that time of day!!!
One other thing is keeping naptime consistant. If it is to early or to late it seems to throw off the whole night no matter what time she goes to bed. Nap for S has to occur between 12 and 3 or forget about it. (she sleeps about 1 1/2 hours...not the whole 3 hour window :) )
You already know what I am going to say...we have talked about our different ways of handling this since our babies were babies. YOU ARE THE BOSS!!!! With Tyce, we knew how we wanted bed/nap time to be so we started at about 2 months old. We put him down while he was awake in his own bed (but...we are not a co-sleeping family...this is where it is different). We try to stay consistant on time give or take an hour. So now...we put him down, say I love you and goodnight. That is it. Never been a problem. He does get sad about getting ready for bed but one time out and we have no more argument.
Now...what would I do to start this process with a 2 year old?? I totally agree with Erin. Super Nanny in a hero here. She has it right on. YOU are the boss. Put her to bed when you think she is ready and you do know...and take it slow. But I know you and you won't be able to do that to her. Your heart is very soft for your baby cakes and you love the snuggle sleep time so...I don't know how to remedy this while still laying down with her to sleep?!
Just do whatever you have to do to keep you sane because when mom is crazy...all H**l will break loose and that is no good!
Good luck!
Love ya!
Post a Comment