Frustrated. That's where I am. I have a 2 1/2 year old toddler who is a tyrant and spoiled. She holds us hostage from 8-9pm. every. single. night. Why? Because she's spoiled.
Here is the back story...
With our first child, Maddie. Life was never easy and parenting not a lot of fun when she was a baby. Of course, since she was our first, we didn't know anything different (thank God!), so we endured and learned how to cope. Maddie finally started sleeping through the night at FOUR! I barely remember her early years as she never slept and as a working mom, I was in survival mode.
Finally, Maddie started sleeping through the night. Just months before Lexi was born.
Along came Lexi and she was adorable. But would not sleep in the crib. She slept in the bassinet. She slept in her car seat. She slept with me. and since I was nursing and it was easier, I let her. We tried the crib. Repeatedly. But it never worked. She would scream. I would be sleep deprived, sooo, she would sleep with me. again. And so she slept with us, in our bed, a good portion of every night for a couple of years. yep. I'm that nutso mother.
Then, we found Warm Milk Vitamins. And those helped. Actually, my mom found them at a local health food store. They weren't cheap, but they gave us rest. Lexi started sleeping in her bed (a big girl bed) and I started learning what it meant to have rest.
And so we come to Kylie. aka Tyrant. As we prepared for Kylie's arrival, I told Doug that I wasn't going to be bound to Kylie with nursing like I was with the other girls. Sure, I would nurse her, but it didn't have to be all or nothing. Lexi never once took a bottle, and Maddie had to be forced to, but Kylie was going to start from the beginning with both. I new I had to return to work, so I needed to be able to rest. Doug would give Kylie her bottle right before bed and it was great. Doug got wonderful bonding time with Kylie and I got rest. Doug loved having those sweet moments right before a baby falls asleep and would rock her and then go put her to bed and she would go to sleep. It worked great while she took a bottle. In fact, it worked well, as we transitioned houses, but since October, it has been horrible.
Kylie plays around and is rotten. Doug gets frustrated. I come in and get Kylie and take a turn. I get mad and send her back and so forth. Finally, she will wear out and lay down on the couch and go to sleep. And that's what we've done since October. It drives me NUTS!! Why don't we just go put her in her room? Cause Lexi is sleeping in there? That's why!! Lexi goes to sleep at 8pm and is a gem (until 3am, when she wakes up almost every night. and yes, she still takes Warm Milk Vitamins..) But if I take a crying/fighting toddler and dump her in their shared bedroom, I'll end up with two crying kids. So I'm stuck.
Until summer gets here.
Then, we (the parents) are taking over bedtime and Kylie can just cry. Lexi won't have to get up early and we can retrain us all.
So, there you have it. My sad parenting story. Best advice I can give you? Get children that sleep. Mine don't. And for the record, Kylie will be three in August. I don't really want to wait until she's four to get some rest. Twelve years of sleep deprivation has taken it's toll on this mom. For mother's day, I'd like a couple of days of sleep.
Here is the back story...
With our first child, Maddie. Life was never easy and parenting not a lot of fun when she was a baby. Of course, since she was our first, we didn't know anything different (thank God!), so we endured and learned how to cope. Maddie finally started sleeping through the night at FOUR! I barely remember her early years as she never slept and as a working mom, I was in survival mode.
Finally, Maddie started sleeping through the night. Just months before Lexi was born.
Along came Lexi and she was adorable. But would not sleep in the crib. She slept in the bassinet. She slept in her car seat. She slept with me. and since I was nursing and it was easier, I let her. We tried the crib. Repeatedly. But it never worked. She would scream. I would be sleep deprived, sooo, she would sleep with me. again. And so she slept with us, in our bed, a good portion of every night for a couple of years. yep. I'm that nutso mother.
Then, we found Warm Milk Vitamins. And those helped. Actually, my mom found them at a local health food store. They weren't cheap, but they gave us rest. Lexi started sleeping in her bed (a big girl bed) and I started learning what it meant to have rest.
And so we come to Kylie. aka Tyrant. As we prepared for Kylie's arrival, I told Doug that I wasn't going to be bound to Kylie with nursing like I was with the other girls. Sure, I would nurse her, but it didn't have to be all or nothing. Lexi never once took a bottle, and Maddie had to be forced to, but Kylie was going to start from the beginning with both. I new I had to return to work, so I needed to be able to rest. Doug would give Kylie her bottle right before bed and it was great. Doug got wonderful bonding time with Kylie and I got rest. Doug loved having those sweet moments right before a baby falls asleep and would rock her and then go put her to bed and she would go to sleep. It worked great while she took a bottle. In fact, it worked well, as we transitioned houses, but since October, it has been horrible.
Kylie plays around and is rotten. Doug gets frustrated. I come in and get Kylie and take a turn. I get mad and send her back and so forth. Finally, she will wear out and lay down on the couch and go to sleep. And that's what we've done since October. It drives me NUTS!! Why don't we just go put her in her room? Cause Lexi is sleeping in there? That's why!! Lexi goes to sleep at 8pm and is a gem (until 3am, when she wakes up almost every night. and yes, she still takes Warm Milk Vitamins..) But if I take a crying/fighting toddler and dump her in their shared bedroom, I'll end up with two crying kids. So I'm stuck.
Until summer gets here.
Then, we (the parents) are taking over bedtime and Kylie can just cry. Lexi won't have to get up early and we can retrain us all.
So, there you have it. My sad parenting story. Best advice I can give you? Get children that sleep. Mine don't. And for the record, Kylie will be three in August. I don't really want to wait until she's four to get some rest. Twelve years of sleep deprivation has taken it's toll on this mom. For mother's day, I'd like a couple of days of sleep.
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