Poor Allie. The pediatrician confirmed today that she has an infection of the soft tissue on her head/scalp, which is why she wasn't acting like her normal self this past weekend and kept complaining that her head hurt. It appears that she had some type of bug bite on the back of her head, which she scratched to kingdom come, causing an infection.
So I feel the need to do a little bit of explaining and/or expanding in this post regarding sleep issues. I know I discuss these issues quite frequently here and that is usually as a result of a particularly bad evening. I realize that it is difficult for readers to see the whole picture when I just discuss the bad nights.
The girls have never been good sleepers. It has been this way from Day One. Well, really Day Four as that is the day we brought Allie and Em home from the hospital. We have allowed them to cry it out. Maybe we gave in too much over the past three years. Who knows? All I know is that after the incident last August (remember that one where Rich and I decided to get super strict with sleep training and the girls cried for three hours and then Allie threw up the next day) I have been trying to work with the girls to get through what is bothering them.
So when I mentioned that Allie was whining and whimpering Friday night, I knew that something was amiss. That was confirmed today. She is usually very good at night with going to sleep and will only whine and fuss if she isn't feeling well. She usually stays in her bed all night. Usually.
Do you know what Em's issue was Friday night? Oh, this is a good one. She has developed this little routine over the past few weeks where I have to read to her two Ladybug magazines and "the princess books." It takes all of 10 minutes. On Friday night, I skipped one of the Ladybug magazines. When I asked her on Saturday why she wouldn't just go to sleep the night before, she responded with, "Because you didn't read the other Ladybug to me."
Their pleas for more water, fresh water and potty breaks are usually justified as they sometimes drink all of the water during story time (we try to only give them half a small sippy full), fresh water means that the water in the sippy cup is warm from sitting out (who wants to drink warm water?) and the potty breaks are understandable as they are still so young and have NOT been wearing Pull-ups or diapers at night.
So maybe I follow Attachment Parenting more than I want to. Who knows? I like to think that as parents we all do what we feel comfortable with. These are the only babies that I will ever have. It breaks my heart to hear my three year old crying about something that I could work out with her.
I still can't figure out what is going on with Anna though. She was doing so great for a few months and then one night, she started the crying unless someone is sitting next to her while she falls asleep thing. I think she is afraid of something but doesn't want to tell us.
It figures that my kids inherited the "I don't sleep a lot" gene from their father. They don't nap now either. Here and there, they will pass out on the couch during quiet time but it is never for very long (never over an hour.)
But now I'm going to stop and look at all of the things we don't have to worry about. They don't throw temper tantrums, they are good with holding hands and staying with us in public places, they don't mess around in the house. I see pictures of house with locks on the potties. Never had to use those. One night, Em and Allie were begging for bandaids at bedtime. I told Rich that they could easily get them off of the bathroom counter. They made no attempt.
I hung out with a group of my girlfriends Saturday night. (What a nice break!) I left before bedtime as I knew that once that process started, it would be difficult for me to get out of the house. When I arrived back home close to 11:00 PM, I hesitantly asked Rich how the evening went, which is code for "did they flip out?" Rich responded with, "It was unbelievable." I held my breath waiting for the nightmare story but he actually meant that it was unbelievable that they were all asleep by 8:05 without any major meltdowns.
So we are working on the going to sleep without crying thing. Again. It is really just Anna now. And Em if I don't follow through on part of her routine. The next step is getting them to stay in their beds all night. Again. Emily is the most serious offender. Upon the suggestion of others, we have started a sticker chart. Stay tuned for a hysterical post regarding that.
4 comments:
It seems that people always have all sorts of criticism and advice as to why the little ones aren't sleeping, etc. But what works for one family may not work for another and I think there are no easy answers :)
Sleep is tough and you need to go with what works for you. Each child is very different and a on-size solution does not exist. Keep doing what you are doing as it does seem to work more often than not. It's just that you have it times 3 at once. I am learning with my 2 y/o twins that lesson right now. I lived through it with their older sister but man, throw in a 2nd child at the same time and WOWZA!
I can't wait for sticker story - I have some pretty funny ones with my oldest, potty training and a bribe - I mean positive incentive - for a bike. Put quickly, we needed to train her at 2 1/2 because we wanted to mover her up to the next room at daycare - she was ready. Well, she earned the stickers then announced that now she can happily go back to wearing her pull-ups because she has the bike. I asked her if she wanted to keep the bike. Apparently she did because she has been dry ever since! Little stinker cracks me up.
I feel your pain. Sleep issues are really tough. Especially when they are great and then one day they just switch it up! My youngest is waking at 5 every day. I am at loss as he had been sleeping until 7. Good luck with the sticker chart!
I just have one (17 months) and he has also been a crappy sleeper from the get go. I foresee many nights sitting next to him until he falls asleep and many mornings up at 5am, only to have him pass out again at 7am and me up for the day! But I CERTAINLY count my blessings and know that I am lucky, just like you said :)
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