*In case you missed my post from earlier this week here is a summary: Greyson used to sleep 12 straight hours at night, and starting this week he does not. I am sleep deprived.
I will never, ever ever take for granted children that are easy sleepers. Not only has Greyson's problem gotten worse, it has now manifested itself with his naps. He gets FRANTIC when I leave the room. I am at my wit's end. I read all kinds of sleep books when Greyson was a baby because I was determined I was going to have an awesome sleeper, and I did... until this week. I didn't know what was coming my way a week ago. My friends used to come to me with baby sleep questions and I felt like I always knew how to help them, and now the joke is on me. I understand why people aren't doing the best things to get their kids to sleep better because they are so tired themselves they can't even think straight or put forth the extra effort to be consistent. I know he is not ready to give up his nap as some have suggested to me. He is not only more tired, he is WASTED. He has always needed way more sleep than kids his age. He has now had two days where he has only slept 45 minutes for his nap because he wakes up frantic when I am not there at the door. He used to sleep for three hours, ask to go to bed by himself, and not make a peep when I put him in the crib (or even his bed the first few weeks he had it). Now everything is the opposite. The nights are getting worse too.
My Friday Night:
6:15 pm: Addy asleep for the night
7:30 pm: Grey asleep for the night
9 pm: mama goes to bed, but has greyson's monitor on so I could hear his every move and I was sleeping on edge only half asleep. Not a good solid sleep.
12 am: alex comes to bed and it wakes me up (not his fault, I am a crazy light sleeper) to where I can't go back to sleep. Plus I have a bad headache from sleep deprivation.
1 am: I fall asleep. finally.
1:09 am: Addy wakes up. I go pop in her pacifier and she is out immediately. I probably didn't have to go in there but I jumped up and went in before I even thought about it.
1:45 am: Greyson up screaming and frantic yelling for me to stand by the door. I go to comfort him and tell him I can't stand by the door all night and leave.
2:00 am+: Greyson starts running out of his room now for me. He has never done this when the yellow clock is in there. He is taking the game to a new level. *Although we got rid of his clock for one night since that was casting the ghost shadows, he then didn't know when it was okay to come out. So we put it back in but in a different spot that doesn't cast shadows anymore.
2:05 am: I zip him up in his crib tent and tell him I love him and goodnight. He is screaming bloody murder and does for about 5 minutes.
2:10 am until 3:30 am: he is awake in the crib, but not screaming.... just not sleeping.
3:30 am: he yells "pee pee!" his magic ticket out of the crib. I take him to the bathroom (he really did have to go a lot), and he is frantically begging me to go back in the big boy bed. Since it has now been almost 2 hours and he did not sleep at all in the crib I give it a try. I told him if he came out one time he would go back in the crib. He asks for me to stand by the door, sing songs, etc. the whole bit. I tell him no, it is the middle of the night and he needs to go back to sleep (am I being insensitive?!?). He goes right to sleep on his own.
4:00 am: Addy wakes up. I nurse her and change her diaper. She is back asleep by 4:15 am.
4:15 am-5:00 am: I try to sleep. I am EXHAUSTED by this point. I have a splitting headache. Finally around 5 I drift to sleep.
6:00 am: Greyson ran into our room. I tell him the light is not green yet and take him back to his room. Technically I should have put him in the crib because I told him if he came out again before the light was green that was where he was going. See, I realize this looking back but I was so tired in the moment I couldn't think straight. I put him back in the bed and again didn't give into all his requests to stand by the door and lay with him, etc. {I can't stay with him in his room even if I wanted to because I can't hear Addy from his room}. He immediately falls asleep with no help again.
7:07 am: He comes to us saying, "the light is green! wake up!" Alex gets up with him.
8:15 am: my wake up call... Addy is up.
I NEED SLEEP.
My nights used to be:
7 pm: both kids asleep for the night.
9 pm: I go to sleep.
wake up once during the night to nurse Addy and go right back to sleep.
7 am: up for the morning when Grey gets up.
Wow. I miss those nights. Maybe the big boy bed was a mistake, but at this point he doesn't sleep in the crib either. He did great in it the first few weeks and it was like all of a sudden out of nowhere he became scared of "ghosts." He now says over and over "no ghosts outside" because we have told him so many time there are no ghosts outside or in his room. I read online that you shouldn't just tell kids monsters or ghosts aren't real that you should acknowledge the fear and do something about it. A lot of parents suggest "ghost spray" where you fill a spray bottle with water to get all the ghosts out before you go to bed. That sounds like a crazy idea to me and that you are acknowledging that there is something to be afraid of in the room. Anyone have any thoughts on that?!? But if it really works and makes him feel safe then I would be willing to try it. I just don't want to make his fears worse. At this point I would be willing to have him sleep in a bed on the floor in our room, but we don't have a single inch of space for that either. You get desperate when you need sleep.
*Oh and I think he could be waking up from bad dreams. Two nights ago when I went in he was telling me, "mom in car. car stop fast. greyson cry." It turns out he was telling me how he dreamed we got in a car wreck.
Despite my crankiness we have had some fun times this week. My point and shoot camera is getting lots of use and I have used it non-stop since I got it! :) It is very convenient and saves me lots of time.
I will never, ever ever take for granted children that are easy sleepers. Not only has Greyson's problem gotten worse, it has now manifested itself with his naps. He gets FRANTIC when I leave the room. I am at my wit's end. I read all kinds of sleep books when Greyson was a baby because I was determined I was going to have an awesome sleeper, and I did... until this week. I didn't know what was coming my way a week ago. My friends used to come to me with baby sleep questions and I felt like I always knew how to help them, and now the joke is on me. I understand why people aren't doing the best things to get their kids to sleep better because they are so tired themselves they can't even think straight or put forth the extra effort to be consistent. I know he is not ready to give up his nap as some have suggested to me. He is not only more tired, he is WASTED. He has always needed way more sleep than kids his age. He has now had two days where he has only slept 45 minutes for his nap because he wakes up frantic when I am not there at the door. He used to sleep for three hours, ask to go to bed by himself, and not make a peep when I put him in the crib (or even his bed the first few weeks he had it). Now everything is the opposite. The nights are getting worse too.
My Friday Night:
6:15 pm: Addy asleep for the night
7:30 pm: Grey asleep for the night
9 pm: mama goes to bed, but has greyson's monitor on so I could hear his every move and I was sleeping on edge only half asleep. Not a good solid sleep.
12 am: alex comes to bed and it wakes me up (not his fault, I am a crazy light sleeper) to where I can't go back to sleep. Plus I have a bad headache from sleep deprivation.
1 am: I fall asleep. finally.
1:09 am: Addy wakes up. I go pop in her pacifier and she is out immediately. I probably didn't have to go in there but I jumped up and went in before I even thought about it.
1:45 am: Greyson up screaming and frantic yelling for me to stand by the door. I go to comfort him and tell him I can't stand by the door all night and leave.
2:00 am+: Greyson starts running out of his room now for me. He has never done this when the yellow clock is in there. He is taking the game to a new level. *Although we got rid of his clock for one night since that was casting the ghost shadows, he then didn't know when it was okay to come out. So we put it back in but in a different spot that doesn't cast shadows anymore.
2:05 am: I zip him up in his crib tent and tell him I love him and goodnight. He is screaming bloody murder and does for about 5 minutes.
2:10 am until 3:30 am: he is awake in the crib, but not screaming.... just not sleeping.
3:30 am: he yells "pee pee!" his magic ticket out of the crib. I take him to the bathroom (he really did have to go a lot), and he is frantically begging me to go back in the big boy bed. Since it has now been almost 2 hours and he did not sleep at all in the crib I give it a try. I told him if he came out one time he would go back in the crib. He asks for me to stand by the door, sing songs, etc. the whole bit. I tell him no, it is the middle of the night and he needs to go back to sleep (am I being insensitive?!?). He goes right to sleep on his own.
4:00 am: Addy wakes up. I nurse her and change her diaper. She is back asleep by 4:15 am.
4:15 am-5:00 am: I try to sleep. I am EXHAUSTED by this point. I have a splitting headache. Finally around 5 I drift to sleep.
6:00 am: Greyson ran into our room. I tell him the light is not green yet and take him back to his room. Technically I should have put him in the crib because I told him if he came out again before the light was green that was where he was going. See, I realize this looking back but I was so tired in the moment I couldn't think straight. I put him back in the bed and again didn't give into all his requests to stand by the door and lay with him, etc. {I can't stay with him in his room even if I wanted to because I can't hear Addy from his room}. He immediately falls asleep with no help again.
7:07 am: He comes to us saying, "the light is green! wake up!" Alex gets up with him.
8:15 am: my wake up call... Addy is up.
I NEED SLEEP.
My nights used to be:
7 pm: both kids asleep for the night.
9 pm: I go to sleep.
wake up once during the night to nurse Addy and go right back to sleep.
7 am: up for the morning when Grey gets up.
Wow. I miss those nights. Maybe the big boy bed was a mistake, but at this point he doesn't sleep in the crib either. He did great in it the first few weeks and it was like all of a sudden out of nowhere he became scared of "ghosts." He now says over and over "no ghosts outside" because we have told him so many time there are no ghosts outside or in his room. I read online that you shouldn't just tell kids monsters or ghosts aren't real that you should acknowledge the fear and do something about it. A lot of parents suggest "ghost spray" where you fill a spray bottle with water to get all the ghosts out before you go to bed. That sounds like a crazy idea to me and that you are acknowledging that there is something to be afraid of in the room. Anyone have any thoughts on that?!? But if it really works and makes him feel safe then I would be willing to try it. I just don't want to make his fears worse. At this point I would be willing to have him sleep in a bed on the floor in our room, but we don't have a single inch of space for that either. You get desperate when you need sleep.
*Oh and I think he could be waking up from bad dreams. Two nights ago when I went in he was telling me, "mom in car. car stop fast. greyson cry." It turns out he was telling me how he dreamed we got in a car wreck.
Despite my crankiness we have had some fun times this week. My point and shoot camera is getting lots of use and I have used it non-stop since I got it! :) It is very convenient and saves me lots of time.
He is so sweet with her!!!
She looks just like Greyson in this pic below.
Watching big brother play trains intently.
January 14, 2012 11:47 AM
Heidi, I unfortunately totally know how you feel! Its so so frustrating, I feel your pain. You are not alone at all! Beckett was a great sleeper for such a long time and then we switched him to a big boy bed... he just like Greyson rocked at sleeping it in for a while (i don't remember the exact amount of time) but then one day he started getting scared and sad and coming in our room 2-4 times a night. He would cry and be so so so upset. The crappy thing was that Paige and him shared a room so I was not willing to let him scream too much in fear that he would wake her up. So I started to sit my his bed! BIGGEST MISTAKE, but I totally am not mad at myself, I mean you do what you have to to keep sane. Slowly over about 3 months or so I moved toward his door, but had to at least be by his door while he fell asleep and when he would wake in the middle of the night he would cry, come get me and ask me to sit by his door, so I did (usually 2 times a night) it would sometimes take him 45 min to fall asleep.. talk about torture... so I started to sing to him. That helped him fall asleep faster, but still. I would sing him to sleep and then once in the middle of the night. About 6 months or so ago I decided i was done, explained it to him and he seemed to understand better, he still struggled a little bit and still woke up about 2 or 3 times and came in our room, but he would go back to sleep on his own. Point of this story, is I have been there, and it sucks! Once Krew was here I was up with Beckett 2 somtimes 3 times a night, Paige usuaullly slept fine except she went through a 2 or 3 week phase where she woke up because of her molars (only once though) and then 2-3 times a night with Krew! It is completely exhausting. Luckily my body adjusted to it, and now I really don't need a whole lot of sleep, its quite weird actually. Now for the last 4 months or so Beckett goes down for nap still just fine, no singing (he will still ask for a cup of water in bed, but I don't care, maybe Alex would though being mr dentist) and bedtime is just fine we read the scriptures, sing a childrens hymn and say prayer and then goodnight, he still would wake up once but stay in bed, now for the last week or so he sleeps solid again through the night. It was quite an interesting 7 or 8 months to say the least, but we got through it, and thank goodness Paige didn't inherit any of Becketts bad bedtime habits. YOu will get through it, you will figure it out, and Greyons will get back to sleep. I hope it happens soon! Good for you for being consistent and not giving in, I could learn a few things from you! Best of luck Chica!
Sorry this was so long and is probably the longest run on sentance ever :) but I thought I would share!
January 14, 2012 1:39 PM
I can totally relate...Taija is such an awesome sleeper, but she went through a phase of just waking up TERRIFIED! At one point it was because her legs were hurting her (entirely another story), but we were able to solve that problem. Then it became a problem because our neighbors were playing loud music or moving things along the wall connecting to hers and it wasn't until I spent a nap time laying by her that I finally figured it out as you couldn't hear the noise anywhere else in the house. It took some time, but we finally convinced her that the neighbors could not get to her. Another time she was fighting us at bed time it was so random...she kept talking about the earth getting her feet...?? Not sure what that was about, but finally convinced her that because Jesus made the earth it was ok. I truly hope that this is a short phase as it really starts to wear on your insanity - at least it did mine! Good luck!