Friday, September 19, 2008

A Rough Night and A Very Funny Woman

Just when I think I'm starting to really feel good about my parenting, finally understanding my child and her needs, finally have a bag of tricks to see me through difficult times... I get a night like last night! It kicked my butt!

I was warned by both OneTiredEma and paola that the 18-month age was rough on sleep. I did listen, especially since their children who are older than mine seem to sleep (or not sleep) like mine, so I always appreciate when they give me a heads up about sleep regressions. But we'd FINALLY gotten some good, quality sleep. Six blissful nights in a row, the child slept straight through until 7 or even 8! It was so beautiful. But I'd been warned, and there was good reason for the warning.

Last night, an hour after I had gone to bed (why oh why did I stay up all the way until 10:30 to do dishes and actually try and talk to my husband???), the Pumpkin woke up SCREAMING. I'm not good after only sleeping an hour. I'm really out of it and grumpy and snappish. Just ask Londo. Londo, however, has been sick as a dog! (Which is funny, because dogs don't really get colds or the flu, so where does that phrase even come from?) He is so sick that neither of us want him trying to cosleep with the Pumpkin for fear of his germs completely infecting her.

So I got up and tried to bring her straight into the twin bed in her room where we cosleep. She kept with the crying and fussing and even screaming. I tried this way and that, and she flopped the other way and then the other. I tried soothing, and she fussed. I tried cuddling, and she cried. I tried yelling (okay, maybe "try" isn't the right word so much as couldn't help myself because I was at my breaking point), and she just cried louder and screamed back.

It was a lovely night.

I finally got up and rocked her back to sleep, and then I was able to slip into bed with her. But all night, she was fussy and fidgety and uncomfortable. And so was I. I even slept in the glider while holding her for a while this morning, something I have not had to do in a very long time. I seriously hope she is not getting sick with what Londo has.

So that's all I've got in me for now. It's been a while since I complained about sleep, and I know you all were missing that. Not. Luckily for you all, I have found an extremely funny woman who posted a fantastic job description for a nanny on Craig's List. You MUST read this!!! A friend forwarded me the NY Times article about it, which is also funny and interesting. If she doesn't already have one, this woman needs a blog!

6 comments:

S said...

Sorry about the sucky sleep regression. I vaguely remember them, mostly due to the haze I was in at the time.

That listing was hilarious! I wish I knew some other moms to forward it to.

Karen said...

I'm so sorry. I hope she's through this quickly.

Anonymous said...

Oh God, we had that night 2 nights after coming back from Australia. It was just awful for all of us. Shw would just cry hysterically and only wanted me and when I didn't comply she went berserk. I've never heard that kind of crying. In the end we had no choice but to leave her to her own devices ( after trying for hours to settle her)and eventually she fell to sleep. This behaviour was really our of character, but we had just flown half way around the world and she was obviously still suffering the consequences. The next day she was her usual happy little self. I peered in her mouth to see how her teeth were coming along, and there it was a new canine popping through. Next night she slept 14 hours and we slept 10.Will never know exactly what it was but still think it was a mix of everything: fussy period, teeth, jet-lag

Heather said...

I'm so sorry for the sleepless nights. I've BTDT too. I promise it gets better! Hang in there.

As for the lady's help wanted add, it was hilarious! I can't believe it was a real add! She really should blog. I would subscribe!

Anonymous said...

OH, it gets better, then worse, then better, then worse....the good news is that the worse portions get significantly shorter.....but at 3 years haven't completely disappeared yet. Since misery loves company, the other night Alex woke up every TWO HOURS crying "I don't want to go to school....I don't WANT TO go to school!!!!" I began to wonder if this #2 I'm currently cooking was maybe a little too soon....I"m not ready for that again just yet.......

The Amazing Trips said...

The sleep thing improves for a while and then it might tank again. Our triplets are almost four and for the past week, I've woken up with a different one in bed EVERY SINGLE night at 3 AM.

That job posting would absolutely be something that I would write if I didn't have family reading my blog.

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