As a 4-month-old she started sleeping through the night, and I was so thankful for much needed uninterrupted sleep. I thought that was it! I've survived!
Who is to know...uninterrupted sleep is something we have had to live with on many many other occasions. Teething and separation anxiety are the main cause of night wakings we've had to deal with.
What have I been doing at 1.30am every night? Dealing with a Toddler screaming instructions:
MUMMY, MUMMMMMMY, MAAAAAAAMY!!
UP! UP! UP! (out of her cot)
OPEN! OPEN! OPEN! (she wants me to open her room door)
THERE! THERE! THEEEERRREE! (she wants to go to our room. to our bed)
When I ignore her or insist that she stays in her room, the screams get more intense and additional sounds are added to the back of her instructions. Like this:
OPEN AHHHHHHHHH! OPEN AHHHH! OPENARRRRRR!
2 nights ago, I decided I had enough of her sleeping on our bed. So, when summoned at 1.30am, I took her out of her cot and laid with her on a mattress in her room. She was NOT happy with the arrangement, and I spent the next 30 minutes (?) hearing her OPENARHs and THEREAAHs while pretending to sleep.
Finally, she realised I was not heeding her cry. She quietened down, peered at me, and said MILK! Then MILKKKK MIIIILLLK MIIILLLLK! I sighed, looked at her, and said Are you sure you need milk? I don't think so. She blinked, turned and hugged her bolster.
I stood up, took her Eeyore and told her Eeyore will sleep with you.
We then went through another round of fussing with her requesting for a Doggy toy instead, and insisting on a diaper change not once but twice.
Finally, after all the attention, I asked Do you feel better now?
She concluded meekly Better...and soon fell asleep on the mattress.
So there. My nights have been more or less like that since.
I acknowledge it is partly my fault because I gave in at the start and for days I would take her to our bed just so that I could go back to sleep. When in KL, we slept on the same bed, and as a result became way too comfortable sleeping with us.
Please pray with me that this phase will pass soon!
13 comments:
There are times when i can actually feel happy that Ry doesn't really form words well yet...
But it could be her teething and it'll take about 3 days for her to nip this thing.
We still get up and go to her bedroom when she cries, usually it's a bad dream or she's tangled in her blanket but sometimes she's done a MAJOR poop. ahahah. So We pick her up, sniff her, kiss her and tell her to sleep and then I go sleep on the chair or something till she's snoring.
Good Luck with her getting outta the habit.
Same here! My gal slept through at about 9 months (about May last year). Then in Oct/Nov, she suddenly woke up and requested for milk. I gave in and made milk for her, sometimes 2x a night. That only lasted for about 2 weeks, so it may truly be a growth spurt. But after sleeping through for a few weeks, she woke up again, won't settle until I gave her milk, and that's already happening for almost 2 months! Initially she woke at about 12.30am and now about 1.30am EVERY NIGHT! And took longer and longer to settle back to sleep. Plus we are already co-sleeping with her. I don't know what's happening in her (couldn't be teething pain for 2 months, right?), and I guess I would never know why. But then, she is never a good sleeper since young. I just hope I can survive and go through this :-P
Hope you have better luck than me.
blendedbaby:
Haha well yeah we have a little director in the house now giving instructions all day long! It is comforting to know that I am not the only one going through this. Teething really stinks! Argggh
Kam:
Oh, we're in it together at 1.30am! I noticed pre-molars and canines poking through - they look HUGE so I suspect it must be something to do with that. But for our case I'm pretty sure it is also a result of habit formation. Let's hang in there together and ride this phase out!
Hi,
I popped by from random blog voyeuring, and was giggling all the way through your excellent post.
All your Caps make the situation very real - I've got a 12-month-old still doing night wakings, and can only imagine it gettin' less-fun when he starts being able to holler what he wants at 1-ish in the morning.
I will keep you and your sanity in prayer. :D
-Clara
clara:
Thanks for popping by! I'm glad someone else sees the funny side of this whole thing! On that note, it could be actually more fun when your bub starts hollering what he wants. You'll then have to learn the art of keeping a straight face in the midst of hilarious toddler-speak!
Oh my yeah... Dylan slept with us 2 weeks straight now he doesn't want to get out. he managed to nap in his own cot (not without much crying) for the first time today. I also hope this will past.
hang in there for another week and stay determined to "guard" your bed, it will go away (parents also got to learn their lessons the hard way, I had the same experience ...)
lxlb:
Yes I hope so too! It is really draining, isn't it! Now I'll be more mindful of how it might happen again the next time we travel!
mama:
Thanks for sharing. Yeah, we're really determined to guard our room/bed. I've heard of kids still sleeping in their parents' room 5 years down the road! Shudder.
good luck moving bubbles out! i'm still stuck co-sleeping with noey and am more than a little worried, with a new baby on the way! technically noey sleeps on a mattress next to my bed but sometimes he wakes up in the middle of the night and and either orders me onto his mattress or climbs up on my bed and sleep ON me. argh. DD's quite chill about it though. he tells me that's why we got a bigger house and bigger room!
I think kids have an internal clock just like us adults! Sean wakes up at fixed times (sometimes down to the minute) too - and while back he was waking up at 3am every.single.night asking for milk.
Amazing how Bubbles can sleep in her own room - I can't even get Sean to sleep in his own cot next to our bed on most nights! He likes to climb onto ours and sleep between us. Sigh.
Debra:
Maybe we should give ourselves some credit for instilling in them the importance of a good schedule! HAHA!
About being in her own room, she started off in a cot in our room. When she turned 9 months, we moved the cot to her room and have since only moved it back only when we have live-in guests. Honestly it was hard for me but Roboman was insistent on that after hearing stories of friends' kids co-sleeping with parents till aged 5! But we do have a mattress in her room and there have been a number of occasions where I slept there with her. Maybe it will be easier when you get your own place? :)
corsage are you sure our babies aren't somehow related???? K has just started doing this earlier this week! 3am sharp : WAHHHHHHHH!!!!" I hope its a phase too!
Kelly:
Oh dear! I think the hardest part about it is that it happens when we're MOST sleepy! I find it so much harder to stick to a principle when all I want to do is to roll back to sleep! Hope we all ride this out quickly.
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