Prince Charming Insists
My wonderful husband actually suggested I post this topic today. And who am I to argue, right?Maybe you can help us out.
One month (maybe two) before Bunny Boop learned to walk, she stopped sleeping through the night. For some reason, she would wake between 2 and 3 a.m. Sometimes she would go right back to sleep, and other times she wouldn't. I had read that learning to walk often interrupts sleeping through the night, so I wasn't very worried.
I was tired, but I wasn't worried.
Now, however, I am a bit concerned. She is now 14 months old and still not back to sleeping through the night. I've been doing the 2:30 a.m. wake up call for four months now and it isn't getting any easier. In fact, just to keep things fresh, she's sometimes waking at midnight and 2:30 a.m.
Look, I had big ideals. I never intended to bring her into bed with me, I swear. The problem is, my husband works nights, so when she wakes up it is all on me. Moreover, I get up at 5 a.m. to get ready for work, get Bunny Boop ready for her day, and then feed her before her father gets home and I can go to work. But when this all started to happen, I quickly tired of rocking her back to sleep. It wasn't practical. And, more often than not, laying her back in her crib woke her back up. And then I would have to start all over again.
This is killing me. I'm three nights away from being a zombie. My mind is mush and I am living on caffeine. I am even having nightmares and because my sleep pattern is so screwed up, I'm waking up from these nightmares spooked. This morning, I was in the shower and still worried about the serial killer that I had been talking to on the phone. Even after my shower, I was still spooked and had to look in on Bunny in her crib to make sure she was still there and okay.
Here's my question for you, my experienced and loyal readers: What is going on with Bunny?
I have been told to increase her protein intake - this didn't help.
I have been told to soften her crib - this didn't help.
I have been told to let her cry - this really didn't help in too many ways to count.
I have been told to let her soothe herself - yeah, this isn't happening either.
I have been asked if she is getting too cold/too warm at night - I don't think this is the problem.
There is nothing wrong with her bed or her room. She is fidgeting at night and waking herself up. I know this because when she comes to bed with me, she fidgets and kicks and frequently lands a blow to me in a sensitive female region. This is weird!
Last night, Bunny went to bed at 8:30 p.m. She woke up at 12:30 and I brought her into my room with me. She fell back to sleep and so did I. At 2:30 a.m., she woke up very unhappy. I changed her diaper, gave her some milk, and she started to nod off. I held her for a while and then tried to put her back in her crib. This woke her back up. I held her some more, gave her more milk, and again, she began to nod off. I held her until I thought she was out, then I put her in her crib. Those little eyes popped open and she jumped up before I had the rail up. I held her in my arms, standing there by the crib, rocking her and listening to the daddies sing the lullabies cd. She nods off again, I put her in the crib, and she wakes back up. It is a lather-rinse-repeat cycle and I can seem to break it. At 4 a.m., I finally gave up and brought her back to bed with me. We both fell back to sleep and I got up an hour later and put her in her crib.
Somebody, please, tell me what to do. I am irritable, short-tempered, exhausted, manic, and zombie-ish. My face has lines (LINES!!!!!) and bags, not the fine leather sort, and my skin is not lively. This is killing me.
Labels: Bunny Boop
