Sleep... oh how I want to sleep!

[Piglet]

Moms of non-sleepers comiserate with me! We need some sort of support group... what do we call ourselves? We need something catchy and fun (since we are too sleep deprived to remember much more than a goofy acronym). How about Desperate Over-Tired Sisters (DOTS)?

Seriously though, I am in a panic over having 2 kids in the house not sleeping at night. DS1 is an angel child - he is nearing 6 and will still nap for 2 hours a day if he isn't at school and then go down for a good 10 hour stretch at night! DS2... whole other story. He has recently discovered that he can keep himself awake, so no matter when we put him to sleep (thanks to all the sleep training books, we keep stupidly aiming to have him in bed by 8:00) he stays up yapping, squealing, yelling, etc. until at least 9:30. We have no lives - we are so caught up in trying to stick with routines, get him to bed at a reasonable hour, etc. We no longer have company for dinner or in the evenings for fear of over-stimulating him or keeping him awake longer than we should. His latest trick is also waking up in the middle of the night (AGAIN) and doing all the same antics to keep himself (and the rest of the house awake). 2 nights ago, we were all up for 2+ hours and last night it was "only" 1 hour.

Please, fellow DOTS, any coping mechanisms? Any books I should turn to? Will it get better soon? When did you find you turned a corner on sleep issues (if you ever did)? Did anything work? Am I missing something?

Thanks for the vent!

[hillview]

Count me in ...
DS is 22 months. He is rocked to sleep with milk and then about 1-2 days a week wakes up for 1-3 hours (sometimes is awake from 3:30 ON). We tried CIO about 4 months ago and he started to (after a WEEK of letting him CIO) to scream NO when it was bed time and refuse to go to bed. So sad. We are going to try CIO again next week. His bedtime is 8:30 ... we were doing 7:30 but that was a disaster (took an hour to get him down -- now it takes him 15 mins). That said he naps for about 2 hours a day and is a happy little guy.

I need some sleep. I am 5.5 months pg and DH has been traveling almost every week for 3-5 days!

thanks for letting me VENT!!
/hillary

[Lovingliv]

oh Marina...big hugs.

Liv was up 4 times last night while Tess woke to feed three times!!!! Can i be in your group?

[Wife_and_mommy]

nak but at your ds's age, i started telling dd she didn't have to sleep but she did have to keep quiet and alone in her room so others could rest. she almost always fell asleep once she laid down.

i started doing this w/ ds. i don't know that he gets it yet but baby steps, i say.



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I love them most when they are sleeping.--Me
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[Zana]

Hugs Marina!

Add me to the group..DS who has been in his big boy bed since last June, has started trying to climb into bed with us EVERY night for the past 2 weeks. Not letting him sleep with us sets him off yelling/crying, which wakes up the baby etc etc....sigh!

[anamika]

He has recently discovered that he
>can keep himself awake, so no matter when we put him to sleep
>(thanks to all the sleep training books, we keep stupidly
>aiming to have him in bed by 8:00) he stays up yapping,
>squealing, yelling, etc. until at least 9:30.


Oh my, I could soooo relate to this part of your post. My DD has never fallen asleep before 9:30. We also put her in at 8:00 PM and one of 2 things happens - she falls asleep and then wakes up 2 hrs later, refreshed and ready to play (an 8 PM nap, as it were). Or she jumps up and down on her bed asking for water, going pee-pee etc etc until 9:30-10 PM.
She also gets up multiple times at night - but this is b'cos of her eczema, poor thing.
But I'm firmly convinced she inherited her nocturnalness from us. I rarely sleep before 2 or 3 PM and usually get around with 5-6 hrs sleep. DH is the same way.
GL finding something and if you do, let us know :)

[KrisM]

Hi! Count me in, unfortunately. DS is 3 and is a horrible sleeper. He actually goes to bed pretty well, but wakes up screaming at least one time per night. We've tried so many things and nothing really works.

DD is a fantastic sleeper. She's down by 7:30, wakes at 6:30 or so to nurse, and then sleeps until 8:30 or 9!

[Bean606]

I'm totally commiserating, but have no answers for you. I am looking forward to seeing what others come up with. If I could only get one good night's sleep, I wouldn't be so cranky and frustrated!