Life with kids is ALWAYS an adventure. And I have 3 who are only 3 years apart. (yes, we're crazy.) This is my place to capture the craziness in all it's glory, because childhood only happens once. (thank goodness!)

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Wednesday, March 26, 2008

All mothers are insomniacs, and not by choice


this is my favorite part!
Originally uploaded by Nikitiger
I know this looks like a face that could do no wrong but lately he is driving me CRAZY!

The past two weeks or so he has decided that the hours from 3:30 am to 6:30 am are for playing. Not sleeping, playing.

So at first I tried the entire 3 hours to get him to go back to sleep. Then I decided to try just laying him in my bed and letting him play while I go back to sleep. But he is getting very wiggly and spends the whole time pulling my hair or playing with my face.

So the night before last I pulled Adam out of the room they share and put the sleeping Adam in my bed so I could put him in his bed in his room and close the door while he cried it out. Well, he cried for an hour (no exaggeration!) after which he finally fell asleep and then promptly woke up 20 minutes later to start crying again.

To add insult to injury he has also started taking shorter and shorter naps and pretty much cries anytime I am not holding him. I thought maybe he was teething so I gave him tylenol and rubbed his gums with teething gel a few times but 2 weeks later and no teeth breaking through and no end in sight of the crying. And I'm pretty much at my wits end.

I had a friend recommend giving him benadryl to make his sleepy. Can I do that and still be a good mom??????

9 comments:

Ryan said...

Well I think you can get away with that once in awhile, but not on a regular basis, no.

MAH said...

Isaac says yes. Though I don't let him do it all that often. And when he does it is because the Child in question hasn't slept at all that night.

orangemily said...

OR you could try reading Babywise, it works wonders!

Nicole said...

thanks for the suggestion, but i'm not into the babywise schedule thing. i think parenting is all about finding a groove that works for you and i'm just not that structured of a person and when i try to be i am crabby and irritable. if it works for you (and millions of other parents) than AWESOME!

Nicole said...

I'm more of a Confessions of a Slacker Mom kind of gal.

Andria said...

Hey, I saw this thing online called the Baby Burrito (http://www.bbsleepsolutions.com/)and I'm going to buy a couple for the new baby because I'm going to need to sleep at night when the husband is gone until January. I can never swaddle my kids tight enough that swaddling works, so I thought I'd give these a try. Maybe they'd work for you too!

orangemily said...

It's not really about scheduling, Babywise is really about finding your groove and so much more!
But whatever works or doesn't work for you, go with it I say.

UTSquishy said...

Babywise is like 10% Scheduling and 90% good habits.

And the Scheduling isn't really a schedule. It's more finding a groove that works.

There were a few nights in the beginning that were a struggle but it's been heaven since Moira started sleeping 8 hours at like 4-5 months.

(Emily's Sanity was seriously in question until she read that book and implemented just "some" of the methods)

Principessa said...

I think the most important thing here is to make sure that Harrison is getting what he needs most, and that's love. I know it sounds super cheesey to say, but its true. From a psychological point of view, Harrison is in the trust/mistrust stage of development. I'll spare you all the explanation, but I'm sure Isaac could back me up on this one. All babies are different, and what works for one might not work for another. There is no manual on how to raise children. So I guess with this long post all I'm really trying to say is that you, as the mother, are the only one who really knows what is best for Harrison, and you are the only one who has a right to make that decision. In short, if you feel that he really needs some sleep and benedryl is the way for him to get it, its okay. As long as it doesn't become habit forming. OR....you can always call Aunt Natalie over (when she's home... :-p ) to be a professional baby holder. ;)