Here’s what I learned this week:
1. I have crazy amounts of energy and ambition for someone who sleeps the way I do (read: barely, piecemeal, with a kid and a dog practically on top of me).
2. Except today. Today, after the whopping hour of sleep I got last night (well, this morning, really), I am fatigued beyond fatigued. I do not know how I will get through this day, which includes going to work, doing chores, and then going to a ball game tonight.
3. If I were a braver person, I’d insert a photo of my eyes today and the pretty purple circles they’re sporting, just to show you what exhaustion looks like. Purple is such a lovely color, unless it’s underneath your eyes.
4. Jax has even more energy than his momma, which is also surprising given how he sleeps (read: piecemeal). Suddenly, he is a little ball of energy! And he’s eating much better, too. It’s bizarre. Why isn’t he tired, after all the running around he’s doing?! I get tired just watching him!
5. People are starting to urge me to talk to his pediatrician to look for a deeper problem, a reason for his poor sleep.
6. That freaks me out a bit. I assume the pediatrician will lecture me or put him through invasive tests (eg, for allergies?), or both.
7. So before heading down that road, I think I will start keeping a food/sleep diary to try to figure things out on my own first. I have a great track record when it comes to solving my son’s issues on my own.
8. Maybe his 2-year molars are starting to bother him. The last time we had this kind of stretch of awful sleep was when his 1-year molars were starting to erupt. That caused 7 weeks of mostly bad nights. Note to self: Try ibuprofen one night & see if it helps.
9. I’m jealous of parents who get a good night’s sleep. I need to stop tweeting and posting on Facebook about our awful nights of sleep so that I don’t get comments about how great others’ kids are sleeping. That does not help. Read this.
10. Jax is too old to be waking up so frequently through the night. And so am I! This momma needs her beauty sleep. Or some amazing makeup to fake it.
11. I haven’t nursed him to sleep in a few weeks now, so I’m leary of those who tell me, accusingly, that breastfeeding is the root of our trouble. I nurse him in the glider a bit, then we kiss goodnight and he falls asleep without the breast. And when he wakes up in the middle of the night, most of the time, we snuggle instead of nurse. Unless I’m desperate to get back to sleep quickly, in which I tend to cave in and nurse him back to sleep.
12. This parenting this is so hard sometimes. It’s harder when you’re tired. But it’s still the most wonderful, fun, amazing thing I’ve ever experienced.
13. There is an upside to sleepless nights: Jax and I get to spend extra time together. Sometimes it’s nice to snuggle in the middle of the night. For like 10 minutes. Not for like 5 hours. Sigh.
14. Thank goodness for sleepovers at Nana’s. Tonight, that’s what’s up. Jax is spending the night with his Nana so that mommy & daddy can go hang out with friends at a baseball game. I am tempted to skip it, hit up a bottle of Tylenol PM, & go to bed at 8:00.
15. But my husband & friends wouldn’t like that. And really, who needs sleep anyway? Sleep is for sissies.
Link up & tell us what you’ve learned this week! If it’s anything to do with how to get your toddler to sleep through the night, I will love you forever.
I read this with a crick in my neck from being in my rocker too much last night myself. My heart goes out to you. Sleeplessness is so overwhelming sometimes. I hate to say that I enjoy reading your posts about it. I do hope you get some sleep, but it is nice to commiserate too. When Jake got his molars it was awful, he refused to nap or sleep and we had a few nights with 3 am Nick Jr going. I hope you go out and have a blast tonight and get some uninterrupted sleep!
Thanks, Kathleen. Wow, you enjoy all the whining about sleep? Every time I write about it, I’m certain people must be so sick of it! I’m glad at least one of you isn’t! :)
The 1-yr molars were so freaking terrible. I hope the 2-yr molars take it easy on us. And now I’m off to google them & see what others have to say!
Oh you poor lady! When my children don’t sleep and I don’t sleep, the days just blur together, and it’s one of the worst feelings out there! I would definitely try a little medicine before bed to see if it’s his teeth. My children never sleep when they are getting those awful molars!
Blessings!
Hi Marybeth. Thanks so much for your condolences! lol. I’m definitely trying the ibuprofen to see if it works.
UGH about the awful sleep. It is overwhelming and it makes everything worse for sure!! I’ve heard a few of my friends (who have terrible sleepers) talk about giving their kids liquid melatonin per their pediatricians recommendation. You might want to talk to yours about that…
I hope it gets better soon.
You’re the third person to talk to me about melatonin this week. I will definitely ask about it. Thank you! :)
Oh my god, hearing about how well other people’s kids sleep is like being kicked in the teeth over and over again . . . once you have actually fallen asleep.
My vote is for the meds and see if it is in fact his teeth that are bugging him. Ignore (so much easier to write than do . . . I know) all those people who blame it on nursing him, on cuddling him, on whatever it is that you are supposedly doing because it is not your fault.
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Jellybean still hasn’t slept through the night at 7 months old. I don;t think I could function on a full nights sleep anymore. Good luck to you and many naps this weekend I hope!
I wish there were an easy answer to sleep problems. It’s so so hard and I totally am jealous too of moms whose kids just fall asleep easily. Even though Donut is sleeping, the process to get there is hard. I hope you enjoy yourself tonight. But I too wonder where these kids get their energy???
Aw:-( I hope you both get some sleep soon!! Have fun at the game:-)
Love it. I don’t get sleep either, not really. Sebastian sleeps 10 hours, so I have to go to bed two hours after him if I want to get 8. And I really need 9. But sacrifice my only alone time of the day? Not happening.
Agree, I love cuddles at night and sometimes I am secretly glad when he wakes up and wants to snuggle with me. But not when he is pinching my other boob, kicking my bladder and clawing at my belly!
I cannot wait for a sleepover. My fantasy is to wake up with my husband, settle back in bed against him, and fall back asleep.
I’d kill for 10 hours. I’d kill for half that, consistently. This week is kicking my ass, bigtime.
I’m a total sissy. I don’t see how you function! I hope those molars come through quickly and you get some rest.