How could I have forgotten this?
We have a 3.5 year age gap between our kids for good reason. We had to get enough sleep first after the first one to start to forget just how bad sleep deprivation can be. But this week, I’m left wondering how I could possibly have forgotten what this was like?
To be fair, we’ve had a good run of it. We did things a bit differently this time around, choosing the option that suited us better rather than the one society at large seemed to imply was right. So we co-sleep when necessary to maximize our sleep. Instead of worrying about bad habits, I rejoice that breastfeeding helps me put my daughter back to sleep. And mostly we get the shut eye that we need.
But last week she was sick and now her entire system is out of whack. Last night she settled to sleep and I laid her in her cot sometime after 7, where she slept beautifully. Until she didn’t.
Between 11pm and 1.30am she woke regularly for feeds. At 1.30am I was desperate to get some sleep, so I decided we’d try a new approach. I asked Charlie to fill a bottle of cows’ milk for her and see if she’d take it and go to sleep.
Twenty minutes later, the bottle of cows’ milk had been guzzled and the baby energiser bunny was ready for playtime. I knew we were in trouble when I laid her in the cot and instead of closing her eyes she started playing peekaboo with us and laughing. Funny how the very baby laugh that you gives you a warm fuzzy feeling during the day gives you a sickly ominous feeling at 2am when you see your precious hours of potential sleep slipping away.
In the end Charlie took her downstairs so I could get some sleep and wouldn’t be a danger on the road for my commute.
And at 6am when I was getting up, she was passed out cold looking like butter wouldn’t melt. Of course she was!
Looks like I’ll be skipping the House of Cards marathon on Netflix and heading for an early night tonight instead. What’s consoling me is that bad and all as last night was, it was nothing compared to what her big brother used to put us through, and these days he would sleep through anything. 🙂
photo credit: demandaj via photopin cc
It’s horridious! I’ll never forget it. Mother Nature, as much as I respect and admire her, needs to get her ass back to the drawing board and sort a few things out! Sleep and teething to name just two. Oh and kudos to hubby for taking baba downstairs. Love that!
Wonderful Wagon recently posted..Hands Off!
I’m actually worried about teeth. As of yet she doesn’t have ANY so potentially we still have months of teething ahead of us. 🙁
I was just thinking the same: no way I will forget! (I actually wrote it down in a journal: “Do not forget what sleep deprivation feels like”. And with an older child to take care of, I can’t begin to imagine…)
We had two months of better (not perfect but better) and now teething and separation anxiety are ruining everything. Aaah!
Ugh. I hear you. I swear someone replaced our crib mattress with a trampoline. No sooner do I gently place a sleepy baby in her crib then, boom – she’s up and standing, crying or shouting while holding on tightly (she’s recently learned how to pull herself up but not how to get back down). I’m really hoping she’s better before I go back to work but I’m not too optimistic. Good thing they’re so cuddly and charming… 😉
I’m convinced the cuteness is key to their survival. 🙂
From the day Jack got sick at home in December till at least mid to late January we had continuous sleep deprivation, waking every couple of hours. Perfect timing for returning to work and first trimester 😉
Can’t imagine how much harder it is when you’re pregnant too. Their timing is impeccable.
As you said, good thing they’re cute 😉
I feel your pain! You poor loveen! Hope you get a marathon sleep tonight xx
Mind the Baby recently posted..Loving the body I actually have, not the one I *think* I have
Me too!!
Oh Lisa, our little one is a wonderful sleeper at the minute… And everytime I even *think* it, I give myself the heebie jeebies knowing that, in the probable near future we will have nights of no sleep… Nooooo. Hope your little Woman falls easily back into a great routine and you catch up! Xx
Emily recently posted..Two Weeks Ago
I laugh and I sympathise in equal measures, we all do forget how cute but horrible a baby actually is. I have (all admiration to daughter) fully breastfed 5 month old twin grandchildren, and my daughter is convinced that by placing one gently down must activate a spike up the bum of the other, cos they rarely sleep synchronized.
My oldest is now 20 and didn’t sleep through until age 7. I went on to have 4 more and even after all that, when my 4 year old doesn’t sleep through it’s torture…
Incidentally I co-slept with all of mine when it seemed appropriate to get some extra sleep, and when it was time to stop I made it uncomfortable for them until they gave in and stayed in their own beds themselves 😀
Jenny @ The Brick Castle recently posted..Stop The Bus….
I have the exact same way of thinking! Luke is almost 1 and its only recently that we have been getting some sleep. He decided to start sleeping properly around 10 months. He also had 7 teeth come through within 3 months so we had a hellish time at night for a while, it was every hour on the hour! Definitely need another couple of years to recuperate before we consider another!
Louise (@TattooedMumsy) recently posted..Me & Mine May