Wednesday, July 8, 2009

No Sleep, No Cheese

" At twelve months of age, 82 percent of children have two naps and 17 percent take only a single afternoon nap. But by fifteen months of age, 43 percent of children are taking two naps and 56 percent take a single afternoon nap. This is a dramatic change occurring over a short time period. This transition, however, may not be smooth..."

May not be smooth?!?!?! That's all you got?!?! May not be smooth is a bit of an understatement for me. 5 AM wake-ups for almost 2-weeks friggin' sucks the big one. SUCKS. THE. BIG. ONE. Do you hear me out there? Do you hear me Dr. Marc Weissbluth? You gotta give me more than that.

"...You might have a few rough months when one nap is not enough but two are impossible..."

A few rough months?!?! Ohhhhhhh! I want two naps back! Two naps was working for us. We had a nice little routine, it was predictable, it was the same, it worked, Asher slept, I slept, it was glorious. Sleeeeeeep. Yummmmmmm. How do I get it?

" ...Here are some ideas for making this transition easier. Move the bedtime earlier."

Oh you're pulling that one, huh? That's the only idea in this freakin' whole book! Move the bedtime earlier. If he gets up earlier than 5 AM I will not be impressed with your little idea there "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" book. I'm sure that intimidates you. I know it. Watch out.

"Getting up too early may be caused by going to sleep too late. Earlier bedtimes often prolong night sleep and prevent early wake-ups... Earlier bedtimes usually help the child get through the transition to a single afternoon nap."

Sleep deprivation = no rational ideas of my own (apparently medicating my son or tying him to his crib aren't really wise parenting choices) so I guess that's what I have to try then, huh? An earlier bedtime. I have a feeling this could be rough.

Oh friends, wish me luck.

And thankfully my recent urinary tract infection medication doesn't prohibit me from drinking coffee like it does dairy, because, right now, I need it. (Yes, my UTI antibiotic prohibits me from consuming dairy 2 hours before and after taking the medication. Weird, huh?)

4 comments:

mel said...

Apparently Mr. Healthy Sleep Habits hasn't met my children, who wake up at the same freakin' time no matter when they go to bed.

Hope it works out for you, friend!

Debie said...

oh, the memories...it does totally suck. ugh.

andrea said...

oh Mandi..your not alone with having sleep issues right now! I've been slowly weaning samantha over the past month or so and was down to just night time feedings. so i finally decided to take the next step and wean fully, she's 15 months old already. The first night was fantastic..last night i was up with her from 12-4:30am and the night before that was 12-3am...are you sure strapping them down on the bed is bad??? Sam doesn't sleep in a crib anymore since she started asking to go to sleep on it by herself..i was all over that one!! unfortunately she also learned to open her door way too early. Rachel still won't get out of bed when i call her and i can't keep sam on hers. Hang in there...you may end up enjoying one nice long nap instead of two shorter ones.

Anonymous said...

I can empathize. Both my kids are early risers. Kolby's wake up time was 4:45am and ready to rock and roll. Thnakfully now he sleeps until 6am sometimes even 6:30am. That is lots of fun when you are the only parent in the household who actually gets up with them. Not always easy but you'll get thru it.
Lisa Wood