One thing that I noticed when we were in Israel was that all the kids were out late. I know it was vacation so no one had to get up for school but people bring their children everywhere- to restaurants, to the kotel late at night and even to wine tastings.
It does not really bother me personally what other people do with their kids with although I did witness quite a few meltdowns from little two year olds who were crying that they could not walk/stand anymore at 11 pm at night. It must just be a cultural thing, possibly weather related- it is definitely cooler at night in Jerusalem, or maybe they just really cannot afford a babysitter.
I, however, am not going to be catching on to this trend anytime soon. Here is why. I have a limited amount of energy and patience. My kids are early risers, they seem to wake up with the sun, some days even before the sun comes up. After getting up early and spending most of the day with them (remember, summer vacation- all day every day), I am usually reaching my limit by around 7 pm.
So we read books, brush our tooth and call it a night. Most of the time, they are also exhausted by the activities of the day so they fall asleep pretty quickly. Even AY seems to finally be on a schedule (yay!) and goes to bed around 7.
And then, when they are all sleeping, it is QUIET. At which point I can relax- blog, read and sometimes even go out on a date with my husband. We found a wonderful babysitter in Israel and took advantage, going out about twice a week. I could not imagine dragging my kids along. It would not be fun- for them or me. They need their sleep. When they do not sleep enough they are cranky and even crazier than usual. And if you think because they go to sleep late they will wake up late in the morning, you are mistaken. Less sleep and more time chasing after them, would make for one cranky Mommy.
Additionally, I cannot imagine my children actually behaving themselves- eating nicely in a restaurant, sitting quietly at the kotel, watching us sample wines at the Wine festival. Our children are always in movement and therefor always need someone supervising them.
So while I do love all things Israel, taking kids out late at night is not a trend I will be following anytime soon. Instead, I will continue to savor the quiet and take advantage of the time off to sit and enjoy myself, without anyone tugging at me.
Showing posts with label sleep. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sleep. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Thursday, July 5, 2012
My baby is finally sleeping- but I am not
Baby AY was a decent sleeper for the first 3 months or so. He took a few naps a day (although never scheduled) and slept a five hour stretch at night. Then at three-four months, something went haywire. He started waking up every 2-3 hours at night and usually cat napped in the stroller but did not take longer naps anymore.
It was very frustrating not to be able to have a chunk of time to get things done during the day, because I never knew when he would be waking up. Usually it was at the most inopportune times, like when my hands were sticky with challah dough that I was kneading. For a while I chalked it up to teething, but there were no teeth to be found.
He was also extremely sensitive to noise. Not a good thing for a fourth child in a loud family. A door opening, the door bell, the phone...anything would wake him up. It was not a great situation. I kept trying to put him on a schedule but he was totally erratic, waking and going to sleep at totally different times. He also started to fight going to sleep. If I tried to put him down to nap when he was so tired that he was rubbing both his eyes, he would just howl. I was a cranky and tired mommy.
My friend kept telling me it was time to move him out of my bedroom. I agreed but was worried about having to actually get up and go into the next room in the middle of the night. I was not sure how M would take to sharing his room. And I was very nervous what the kids would do to him in the morning when they woke up before me. All out of love...but still.
Last week I put him in the crib in M's room a few nights in the middle of the night. I would nurse him at 11, put him in the room, then wake up at 3 to his crying, and stumble back to my bedroom with him, where he spent the rest of the night. It was not working well.
This week, though, the kids decided they wanted M to "sleep over" in their room. We dragged a mattress into their room and since Saturday night, M has been sleeping with them, leaving the other bedroom open for AY.
And amazingly, he is actually sleeping. This week he has slept an about 6-9 hours straight. 11-5, 9-5, ...whatever it is, I will take it. When he wakes up around 5 or 6, I will usually bring him into our bedroom to nurse and sleep a few more hours, thereby ensuring that no one wakes him up and/or jumps into his crib.He seems to need a quiet environment for sleep and that is fine with me. The only problem is, I am still not sleeping well. Most nights I have woken up several times to make sure he is not crying. With our air conditioning blasting, I am nervous that I will not hear him. So far that has not been the case, and I know I can get a baby monitor if I am really worried, but my body is so used to sleeping lightly, that I find myself waking up at 3 or 4 or 5 for no reason. Add to that that most nights some other child is waking us up and I am still one tired mommy.
But there is light at the end of the tunnel. I am hoping in the next few days my sleep rhythm will re-regulate itself and I will actually sleep a 6-8 hour stretch. If you could bottle uninterrupted sleep and sell it, that is what I would want for my upcoming birthday.
It was very frustrating not to be able to have a chunk of time to get things done during the day, because I never knew when he would be waking up. Usually it was at the most inopportune times, like when my hands were sticky with challah dough that I was kneading. For a while I chalked it up to teething, but there were no teeth to be found.
He was also extremely sensitive to noise. Not a good thing for a fourth child in a loud family. A door opening, the door bell, the phone...anything would wake him up. It was not a great situation. I kept trying to put him on a schedule but he was totally erratic, waking and going to sleep at totally different times. He also started to fight going to sleep. If I tried to put him down to nap when he was so tired that he was rubbing both his eyes, he would just howl. I was a cranky and tired mommy.
My friend kept telling me it was time to move him out of my bedroom. I agreed but was worried about having to actually get up and go into the next room in the middle of the night. I was not sure how M would take to sharing his room. And I was very nervous what the kids would do to him in the morning when they woke up before me. All out of love...but still.
Last week I put him in the crib in M's room a few nights in the middle of the night. I would nurse him at 11, put him in the room, then wake up at 3 to his crying, and stumble back to my bedroom with him, where he spent the rest of the night. It was not working well.
This week, though, the kids decided they wanted M to "sleep over" in their room. We dragged a mattress into their room and since Saturday night, M has been sleeping with them, leaving the other bedroom open for AY.
And amazingly, he is actually sleeping. This week he has slept an about 6-9 hours straight. 11-5, 9-5, ...whatever it is, I will take it. When he wakes up around 5 or 6, I will usually bring him into our bedroom to nurse and sleep a few more hours, thereby ensuring that no one wakes him up and/or jumps into his crib.He seems to need a quiet environment for sleep and that is fine with me. The only problem is, I am still not sleeping well. Most nights I have woken up several times to make sure he is not crying. With our air conditioning blasting, I am nervous that I will not hear him. So far that has not been the case, and I know I can get a baby monitor if I am really worried, but my body is so used to sleeping lightly, that I find myself waking up at 3 or 4 or 5 for no reason. Add to that that most nights some other child is waking us up and I am still one tired mommy.
But there is light at the end of the tunnel. I am hoping in the next few days my sleep rhythm will re-regulate itself and I will actually sleep a 6-8 hour stretch. If you could bottle uninterrupted sleep and sell it, that is what I would want for my upcoming birthday.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Wanted: Sleep
Like I mentioned in a previous post, I do not function very well without sleep. And recently, our kids have not been very forthcoming on that front. Ironically, it is not even the baby who is keeping us up, at least not an unreasonable amount. I could deal with the nighttime nursing if I did not also have to contend with the other kids' antics.
For the past few months, Y has been having trouble falling asleep at night. Then he started waking up earlier and earlier, some days 5 am or 5 30. 6 30 is a good day. Sometimes for fun he would wake M up too.
My husband and I are both not early risers or morning people so we would let them play on their own while we tried to sleep, with often disastrous consequences- cocoa powder all over the couch, Pam sprayed all over our wood floors, spilled juice, etc.
Then a few weeks ago, M started waking up in the middle of the night too. One morning I found him watching videos glassy-eyed at 6 30 am. When I took away the iPad (note to self, don't leave entertainment sitting out for the kids to access on their own), he announced that he was going to bed. Within 30 seconds he was sleeping and he slept for three hours that morning, which led me to believe that he has been up for several hours in the middle of the night, watching Barney or Fireman Sam.
Last night was the last straw. I woke up in the middle of the night to the sounds of the boys laughing and playing. I assumed it was early morning and asked my husband to check on them. Whereupon we discovered that it was actually 2 30 am, not even remotely a time to wake up. It took two attempts to get Y back to bed...
This morning I was tired and cranky and decided that this has to stop. I spoke to the pediatrician, who said it was probably connected to a growth spurt or acquiring a new skill. She encouraged me to make strict rules about staying in bed, not waking the others and not making a mess. She also said we could try Melatonin as it works for some kids.
The problem is, Y does not really follow rules. Sometimes I am not sure if he does not understand them or just chooses to ignore them. He does not always understand rewards and consequences either, especially when they are more abstract and not immediate. So the next step is to speak to a behavioral specialist who can help us set appropriate limits for him with good reinforcers/consequences that are meaningful for him and will motivate him to comply. This is something I have been wanting to do for a while anyway in other realms such as safety awareness and sibling interactions but the sleep issue has finally gotten this project to the top of my "to-do" lists. I will report back once we have a plan in place, in case it could be helpful for others.
In the meantime, here is to hoping for a quiet night on all fronts.
For the past few months, Y has been having trouble falling asleep at night. Then he started waking up earlier and earlier, some days 5 am or 5 30. 6 30 is a good day. Sometimes for fun he would wake M up too.
My husband and I are both not early risers or morning people so we would let them play on their own while we tried to sleep, with often disastrous consequences- cocoa powder all over the couch, Pam sprayed all over our wood floors, spilled juice, etc.
Then a few weeks ago, M started waking up in the middle of the night too. One morning I found him watching videos glassy-eyed at 6 30 am. When I took away the iPad (note to self, don't leave entertainment sitting out for the kids to access on their own), he announced that he was going to bed. Within 30 seconds he was sleeping and he slept for three hours that morning, which led me to believe that he has been up for several hours in the middle of the night, watching Barney or Fireman Sam.
Last night was the last straw. I woke up in the middle of the night to the sounds of the boys laughing and playing. I assumed it was early morning and asked my husband to check on them. Whereupon we discovered that it was actually 2 30 am, not even remotely a time to wake up. It took two attempts to get Y back to bed...
This morning I was tired and cranky and decided that this has to stop. I spoke to the pediatrician, who said it was probably connected to a growth spurt or acquiring a new skill. She encouraged me to make strict rules about staying in bed, not waking the others and not making a mess. She also said we could try Melatonin as it works for some kids.
The problem is, Y does not really follow rules. Sometimes I am not sure if he does not understand them or just chooses to ignore them. He does not always understand rewards and consequences either, especially when they are more abstract and not immediate. So the next step is to speak to a behavioral specialist who can help us set appropriate limits for him with good reinforcers/consequences that are meaningful for him and will motivate him to comply. This is something I have been wanting to do for a while anyway in other realms such as safety awareness and sibling interactions but the sleep issue has finally gotten this project to the top of my "to-do" lists. I will report back once we have a plan in place, in case it could be helpful for others.
In the meantime, here is to hoping for a quiet night on all fronts.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Busy Day
Today was going to be the day when I finally post some info on homebirth...but it has been a busy day and my bed is calling. In my quest to get back to a normal schedule, here are some of the things I accomplished:
-buy Channukah presents for the kids, although I still need something for Y.
-buy a pretty sweater for myself (thanks Mom!)
-pick M up from school. This is totally worth it because he is so excited to see me. He says, " My Mommy's here with my new baby brother!"
-cook food for shabbos AND dinner
- pick up A from school as a surprise and have her proudly introduce Baby AY to her Morahs and friends
- the regular homework/dinner/bath/bedtime craziness
-finally order thank you cards on snapfish with this cute picture on them. Plus I had a 50 percent off coupon.
- hold this cute baby for about two hours straight because 8 30 to 10 30 seems to be his cranky time.
Now that he has finally fallen asleep, I am going to take this as my cue to try and get to bed too.
But to get things started a little bit, I'll share one great article about homebirth.- Why women should not fear homebirth by Mayim Bialik. I hope some of you read it and share your thoughts
-buy Channukah presents for the kids, although I still need something for Y.
-buy a pretty sweater for myself (thanks Mom!)
-pick M up from school. This is totally worth it because he is so excited to see me. He says, " My Mommy's here with my new baby brother!"
-cook food for shabbos AND dinner
- pick up A from school as a surprise and have her proudly introduce Baby AY to her Morahs and friends
- the regular homework/dinner/bath/bedtime craziness
-finally order thank you cards on snapfish with this cute picture on them. Plus I had a 50 percent off coupon.
Now that he has finally fallen asleep, I am going to take this as my cue to try and get to bed too.
But to get things started a little bit, I'll share one great article about homebirth.- Why women should not fear homebirth by Mayim Bialik. I hope some of you read it and share your thoughts
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Baby Blanket
Tonight, after a fairly quiet and restful Shabbos I finally had a chance to weave in some loose ends and finish up the baby blanket I had posted about a few weeks ago.
Now it is bigger, but I am not sure I like it better this way
As you can see, I added four panels but I am wondering if it is just too many colors. Plus I was lazy and used stockinette stitch and now the sides are curling under. I can try steaming or ironing it to even it out but that might be too much of a hassle already. Am seriously considering removing the extra panels.
Would love some feedback/comments on this one.
In other news, there has been a lot of blogging and news online this past week about an ad campaign in Milwaukee that compares co-sleeping with your baby to allowing your baby to sleep next to a knife.
For some factual information about safe co-sleeping or bed sharing as well as safe and unsafe practices, here are two good articles. The first is from the Birth without Fear Blog, the second one from the website of Dr. Sears, a trusted pediatrician for over 40 years.
I like to have my babies close by, it facilitates breastfeeding at night. That doesn't necessarily mean in my bed but it does happen on occasion. I think everyone needs to make the decision of what works for them without being unnecessarily influenced by misleading scare tactics such as these ad campaigns
Now it is bigger, but I am not sure I like it better this way
 |
| Before |
 |
| After |
Would love some feedback/comments on this one.
In other news, there has been a lot of blogging and news online this past week about an ad campaign in Milwaukee that compares co-sleeping with your baby to allowing your baby to sleep next to a knife.
 |
| A bit much, no? |
For some factual information about safe co-sleeping or bed sharing as well as safe and unsafe practices, here are two good articles. The first is from the Birth without Fear Blog, the second one from the website of Dr. Sears, a trusted pediatrician for over 40 years.
I like to have my babies close by, it facilitates breastfeeding at night. That doesn't necessarily mean in my bed but it does happen on occasion. I think everyone needs to make the decision of what works for them without being unnecessarily influenced by misleading scare tactics such as these ad campaigns
Saturday, November 12, 2011
(No) Rest for the Weary
Shavua tov! We are having some serious sleep issues in our home. Which start with Y waking up around 5 am every morning since we changed the clock. I can usually convince him to go back to bed for about half an hour before he is up again and waking his buddy M so they can play- argh. This then results in my husband and I trying to ignore them and continue sleeping while taking turns to go check on them whenever there is a loud crash or other disconcerting noise.
What also happens is that I have a very, very cranky M on hand most days because he is not really supposed to be woken up at 5 30 (!) am. Some days I put him down for a nap, but then he won't go to sleep at night and we have another bad sleep cycle. Today, I decided not to have him nap, especially because he was not interested in napping at all. We had a busy but cranky day and even went to the park. Then around 5 15, while eating dinner, I noticed that he was awfully quiet..he had fallen asleep in the chair!
After shabbos, I could not resist snapping a picture of him before putting him into his bed.
I am a little bit concerned what time he will wake up in the morning, but I am thinking that it cannot really be much earlier than 5 30 anyway. Plus, the poor child obviously needs some rest! His mom could use some sleep too, as well as some advice to how to get Y to wake up later!
Monday, July 4, 2011
Bedtime Mayhem
One thing the kids and I both thrive on is schedules and structure. I think it's great for kids (and their mommies) to know the routine of the day, what happens when and what is expected of them.
And most of the time this works out very well for our family. The only issue is that every once in a while, something shifts and then the old schedule no longer works. This requires a little bit of shuffling and reorganizing, some kind of growing pains, until a new routine is created.
At the moment, we are struggling with our bedtime routine. Until recently, bedtime was at 7 which meant they usually got into bed around 6 40 and were sleeping most nights by 7 15 or so.
I don't know if it's because school is out or there is something in the water, but that is totally not happening at the moment. M is in the weird in-between stage of phasing out his naps. The days he does not nap at all, he goes to bed at 6 30. On days when he falls asleep late in the afternoon and is then woken up, he is cranky for the rest of the day and unable to fall asleep till past 8 30.
Additionally, Y and A have been lobbying for a later bedtime. Even when I make them get into bed around 7, they usually dont fall asleep till past 8. And Y has started a lovely habit of waking up at 6 or 6 30 am every morning. It is beyond me how they are not tired, especially after long days spent running around playgrounds in the heat.
The one person who is tired is definitely me. After a long day of getting up early, taking kids to camp, playgrounds, errands, picking up from camp, making dinner, doing baths, and then struggling to have the kids stay in their beds, let alone fall asleep, I am totally worn out by the time that everyone is actually sleeping. I usually force myself to do some basic clean up- dishes, picking up toys, laundry and try to get to bed as soon as I can. Which means I no longer have my nights to write, knit, cook, prepare for the next day, take care of bills, etc.
As I said, I am hoping it is just a phase and we will get to a better place. But I am also realizing that as the kids get older, 7 pm is no longer a realistic bedtime, which means I will also need to adjust my expectations for things I want to get done at night. For now I am just hoping that this too shall pass...I will keep you posted.
And most of the time this works out very well for our family. The only issue is that every once in a while, something shifts and then the old schedule no longer works. This requires a little bit of shuffling and reorganizing, some kind of growing pains, until a new routine is created.
At the moment, we are struggling with our bedtime routine. Until recently, bedtime was at 7 which meant they usually got into bed around 6 40 and were sleeping most nights by 7 15 or so.
I don't know if it's because school is out or there is something in the water, but that is totally not happening at the moment. M is in the weird in-between stage of phasing out his naps. The days he does not nap at all, he goes to bed at 6 30. On days when he falls asleep late in the afternoon and is then woken up, he is cranky for the rest of the day and unable to fall asleep till past 8 30.
Additionally, Y and A have been lobbying for a later bedtime. Even when I make them get into bed around 7, they usually dont fall asleep till past 8. And Y has started a lovely habit of waking up at 6 or 6 30 am every morning. It is beyond me how they are not tired, especially after long days spent running around playgrounds in the heat.
The one person who is tired is definitely me. After a long day of getting up early, taking kids to camp, playgrounds, errands, picking up from camp, making dinner, doing baths, and then struggling to have the kids stay in their beds, let alone fall asleep, I am totally worn out by the time that everyone is actually sleeping. I usually force myself to do some basic clean up- dishes, picking up toys, laundry and try to get to bed as soon as I can. Which means I no longer have my nights to write, knit, cook, prepare for the next day, take care of bills, etc.
As I said, I am hoping it is just a phase and we will get to a better place. But I am also realizing that as the kids get older, 7 pm is no longer a realistic bedtime, which means I will also need to adjust my expectations for things I want to get done at night. For now I am just hoping that this too shall pass...I will keep you posted.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)