I’m so sick of not getting enough sleep. E has stopped sleeping through the night. The same child who could sleep 7 hours in a row at 9 weeks can’t sleep more than four lately. Since the first week of August he’s just had a hard time with sleep. This is the same child who used to nap for an hour or 90 minutes in the morning, 2-3 hours in the afternoon, sleep for an hour or two after dinner, get up and play for a couple of hours and go back to sleep and stay asleep until morning.
I understand that he’s collapsing his naps. He is consolidating his sleeping. But good lord, he’s gotten all out of whack. Because I am desperate, for the past two nights, he’s gotten a teaspoon of Benedryl shortly (within an hour) before bedtime. Both times he has only stayed asleep for 3.5 hours. He doesn’t have any problem going to sleep. That part we’ve got down pat. But it is the waking up and not being able to get back to sleep that is killing me. Because he goes to sleep at 7 or 7:30pm. and I am just not willing (although I might have to tonight) to go to sleep before 9.
To be fair, last night after waking at 11, he did go back to sleep until 5am. Which is better than most nights. But K had bad dreams or something and woke us up three times between 10:30 pm and 1am, so I didn’t sleep well except from 1 until 5. I’m tired. and tired of being tired. I don’t know why I have children who don’t need sleep. I thought it might be moving from one house and bed and bedroom to a whole new place. I thought it was teething or a growth spurt or a phase or seasonal allergies, but it has gone on way too long to be any of those things. I just don’t understand why E can’t sleep or stay asleep. He takes a nap during the day, so he’s not overtired. I’ve been making sure he was awake by 4pm, now I make sure he is awake by 3, and I had planned on gradually getting him to be awake by 2, but it seems like that may really be unnecessary. To be honest, most of his naps now are in the 11am-noon range and only last an hour and 15 minutes at the most. The other day he only slept 45 minutes. I guess he is getting ready to give up a nap, too. I can only hope that once he does give up his nap, he will do better at night.
I can’t handle it if he doesn’t nap at all and he doesn’t sleep at night.
Posted by journeymom 