bedtime
I know this is a breastfeeding blog and I haven’t written about breastfeeding in a few days, but with NaBloPoMo I figured I’d continue expand my repertoire a bit.
The bedtime routine- bath, brushing teeth, pajamas, story, music, rocking- started at seven. By seven-thirty the lights were out and the rocking had commenced. By eight-thirty I’d given up and sent my husband in to take over. At nine we were eating our badly burned dinner (no one bothered to turn the oven off when the bedtime routine took longer than expected) and we heard Sam wandering around upstairs. Back in the crib, twenty minutes of crying later, and Bob was back in there.
I am, we are, so frustrated. He’d been dosed with motrin, he’d taken his teething tablets, he’d been nursed half a dozen times since we sat down to rock and the kid didn’t want to go to sleep. And he was exhausted.
He was finally asleep for the night at 10, but then he was up and crying at 6. I tried and tried to rock him back to sleep, cuddle him back to sleep, rub his back until he went back to sleep, but he sat up, said bye-bye and walked into the hall. I picked him up, put him in his crib and said “I’ll be back when it’s light out.” Bob went in shortly after and got up with him for the day, but seriously, doesn’t the kid need more than eight hours of sleep?
Currently he’s napping in the car in the driveway. It only took half an hour of driving around to get him sleep at 1.30. After a measly eight hours of sleep you’d think he would have passed right out.
I’m currently re-reading The No-Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers. It seems like most of the strategies are aimed for the older set. There doesn’t seem to be a chapter that’s filled with explicit advice for how to get your kid to fall asleep when he just keeps hitting you and trying to climb off of your lap or out of bed. A three hour bedtime ritual is ridiculous.
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November 3rd, 2007 at 9:14 pm
Holy crap, Jackie. When did I write this post? Because seriously - this has been me lately. Driving the car until my toddler goes to sleep. I even have a specific route now.
We have been struggling so much with sleep these past few weeks with our 2 year old. I dread bedtime now. DREAD IT.
I hate to say it, but it is nice to know that it is not just my kid doing this. Please report back on the book. I have borrowed it, but have not read it yet. I am too busy DRIVING at all hours of the night. Perhaps, I should get it on audio. Sigh.