Ugly Timeline
Monday, September 22, 2008

4:30 AM - Scout wakes up crying

4:35 AM - I wait for a few minutes before I go in there because sometimes she fusses a little then falls back to sleep on her own. I could tell she wasn't going to go back to sleep, so I go in to nurse her....which doesn't work. Much to my dismay, there is an hour of squirmy nursing, pinching, kicking, playing with toys, climbing all over me, and more nursing.

5:38 AM - I give up and let my cheerful and talkative toddler out of the room to wander the house while I make DH's lunch and fix us both something to eat. She eats some shredded wheat with milk and a piece of toast with homemade apple butter while I fight back tears of exhaustion (have I mentioned that she has been doing this for the last 3 or 4 days?)

7:15 AM - Scout starts doing the sign for nurse and saying "nigh-night" while rubbing her eyes. It takes me 15 minutes to nurse her back to sleep.

7:30 AM - I make some coffee and down 2 cups.

9:00 AM - Scout wakes up and is in a very good mood. Good. I'm glad someone is. We eat and play and horse around on the bed while watching Elmo's World and then play some more. I pop her in the stroller and take a very long walk around the neighborhood.

1:30 PM - Scout is yawning and wanting to nurse. I lay down with her and her blanky bear to nurse her to sleep. I try and try to get her to go to sleep to no avail.

2:00 PM - She is apparently not tired enough for a nap. I figure that she is probably hungry and start making her some lunch. She throws a fit when I try to strap her in her booster seat and starts doing the sign for nurse again. She does the sign for blanket and says "Nee nee" (which is what she has been calling her blanky bear). I take her back in to her room and she immediately runs from me when I put her down to nurse. I am about to scream and pull my hair out. I need her to sleep before I start crying. I put up the gate and leave the room. I hide in the kitchen while she screams and cries at the gate. I never do that, but I just had to escape the situation for a moment.

I sort of lost track of the time and chain of events after that. I know that I went back in her room after just a couple minutes and tried to get her to go to sleep AGAIN. When she got up and went to her toy box and started throwing toys at my head as I laid on her mattress in the fetal position, rocking back and forth and shaking (just kidding) I decided to leave the room again. This time, I shut the door and let her cry for about 5 minutes. They were sad and panicky cries. I felt so bad for doing it, but I could not take it anymore. I went back in and told her that she HAS to go to sleep and then I laid with her and nursed her.

At 2:53 PM, she is finally asleep. Great. Now she'll sleep until close to 5:00 and won't want to go to bed until 10. Then she'll be up again at 4:30 (for whatever reason) and we'll start the whole flippin' process all over again. Uuuughhh.

My little girl used to sleep. She used to like bedtime. I'm afraid that me leaving her in her room to scream for a few minutes when I am frustrated is probably not helping her enjoy bedtime any more. {sigh} Shame on me.

***ETA***

I was determined to get a little sleep while she napped, but had a hard time winding down. The last time I looked at the clock before I finally fell asleep it was 3:48 PM. She woke up at 4:07 PM. I feel so incredibly great now that I've had a restful 19 minute nap. < /sarcasm>

Labels: baby sleep, general complaining

posted by Unkempt Mommy @ 2:21 PM,

7 Comments:

At Mon Sep 22, 09:01:00 PM CDT, Anonymous said...: I completely stumbled across your blog by accident, but your post today caught my attention. I have a just-turned-2-year-old and we also had a very rough transition from two naps to one, right about your daughter's age. Hang in there... it's just a phase. She'll figure it out. Meanwhile, get a babysitter or helper so you can get some rest! Best of luck!!!

P.S. He's an awesome sleeper now (knock on wood!)
At Mon Sep 22, 09:02:00 PM CDT, Dawn B said...: You poor thing!! Does it make you feel better if I say I know exactly how you feel? lol
Natalie has a habit of being a loud sleeper, even making small cries so with that being on the monitor is wakes me up pretty easily. Now, onto James. That boy used to wake up at about 1:30am every night for a long long time (right at about 17 months, too so go figure) and wouldn't go back to sleep until 4 to 5am!!! And there was no change in his sleep schedule, I couldn't figure out why. After talking to more people about it at the time, I came to the realization that it's a goofy toddler sleep thing. And it DOES end. And hopefully soon for you. There's just nothing like good 'ol sleep deprivation. *sigh*
At Mon Sep 22, 09:30:00 PM CDT, Unkempt Mommy said...: Thanks Dawn and Anonymous :)

To Anonymous: She's been down to one nap since before she was a year old, so this was just me trying to put her down for her ONE daily nap. That is why I am about ready for the funny farm tonight. LOL :) But thanks for the encouragement anyway!
At Tue Sep 23, 12:59:00 PM CDT, Giggly said...: Oh my goodness! Max is doing the same thing! (I guess it's typical of 17 months)I cried twice yesterday out of frustration, sadness, and guilt when I had to leave him in his room with the door shut for a few minutes, just so I don't lose my mind. I do know it will pass though. Hang in there!
At Tue Sep 23, 01:58:00 PM CDT, heidi said...: big (((hugs)))

scout must've sent tristan a memo or something because he was up at 4:30 as well, and when i tried to put him down for a proper nap at 11:30, he freaked out for an hour. i don't believe in letting my child cry it out, but boy was i close to just walking out the door yesterday and never coming back! i guess, from the other comments, it just goes to show that toddlers are not really predictable beings. this sounds awful, but your post was very encouraging for me to read, knowing that i'm not the only one who wants to bawl right along with my kid some days!
At Tue Sep 23, 04:33:00 PM CDT, Unkempt Mommy said...: Thanks everyone! It's good to know I'm not alone. Really good. I love you ladies.

Yeah, I am not a fan of the whole cry-it-out thing myself. I surely wouldn't even consider it with a younger babe and the only reason I found myself resorting to it these last few days is out of sheer desperation.

Not to excuse it or make it sound better, but the times I have had to walk out of the room and let her cry have not lasted long. It feels like an eternity to me, but in reality it was long enough for me to walk into the kitchen, take a sip of water (while considering throwing the glass across the room at the wall LOL), and go to the bathroom to pee. Again, not a good excuse...but just to let everyone know I'm not leaving her in the room alone screaming for long periods of time or anything. And I honestly still feel horrible for it. But you know, sometimes it is a GOOD thing for momma to cool off and take a deep breath.

She slept until 7 AM this morning, by the way. Woot! She hasn't had much of a nap today, but I decided that I am not going to push it and just ride the wave of crazy toddlerhood because I don't even feel like caring about it today. Hee hee :)
At Tue Sep 23, 05:42:00 PM CDT, Annika said...: 18 months is another huge developmental spurt, so crappy sleep is par for the course. Also, she might be getting molars. Sam does not sleep when he is getting a tooth.

Alternately, the toddlers may have finally teamed up on us. Sam is 27 months old and not sleeping at all. Conspiracy!