Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Are you kidding me? (with a ! as well)

I cannot remember (except for this week, which I will talk about in a few minutes) the last time I was able to sleep in my own bed for the entire night without being awakened by the girls. Either my brain is a bit a dead (which it is) or this sleep deprivation has lasted for a really long time (which it has.)

So we tried the sticker chart thing awhile ago and Emily really didn't care whether or not she earned any stickers for sleeping in her bed all night. She was extremely indifferent to the whole process. Allie and Anna were doing okay but we ended up dumping the whole thing. I was a reading a post last week over at Three Times the Giggles about how Helen's boys are doing a fantastic job earning their stickers so I decided to start up the program again.

Sunday night we made an extremely non-fancy sticker chart, which also includes lines for Elmo, Little Lion and Anna's Buddy. The sole purpose of the sticker chart is to track who sleeps in her bed all night. Baby steps, folks. Baby steps. I also wanted to incorporate going to sleep without Mommy or Daddy or Grammy sitting next to or in the bed but I figured we would wait on that. There are some nights that I spend an hour sitting around waiting for kids to fall asleep. I usually start off in Emily's bed with Emily and Allie. I then have to move Allie to her bed, which sometimes causes her to wake up and so I have to sit there with her waiting for her to fall back asleep.

Sunday night was one of those long nights in terms in getting everyone asleep in bed. We reiterated the whole sticker chart for staying in your bed all night a few times. By the time they were all asleep, my patience level was running just above empty.

I won't go into details because it would be painful to relive but let's just say that I was awake from midnight until after 2:00AM. I freaking lost it. LOST IT. There was screaming. There was crying. I was finished. FINISHED. The best part of it was that Anna and Emily never got out of their beds. They fussed - Anna was having issues - but they never got out of their beds. Allie did get out of her bed originally but stayed put after I went psycho.

The irony of it all is that we told them that they had to sleep in their own beds and not get up. That was it. Stay in your bed. I suppose it is our fault for not being specific about fussing or having Mommy sleeping in the bed. Surprisingly, Emily was the best behaved during The Incident. She just wanted her door wide open.

I had to work a little bit later than normal on Monday night. Grammy picked me up at the train station and we arrived home around 7:50. I was expecting the girls to be in full out meltdown mode. But they weren't. Rich was downstairs picking up the playroom. There was silence. An absolute miracle in our house.

I fell asleep that night in my own bed and didn't regain consciousness until the alarm clock went off the next morning. This never happens in our house. NEVER.

I wrote it off as a fluke because to believe that we had reached a turning point and then have it all fail would be a major disappointment. I arrived home from work around 7:50 Tuesday night and, again, I was met with silence. Rich said that Allie had been a bit difficult at first but did eventually climb into her bed and stay there.

Night Number Two went something like this - Anna woke up around 2:00 AM. I found her whimpering in the hall in front of the stairwell gate. I picked her up, hugged her, brought her back to her bed, told her she was being a big girl and doing an awesome job of staying in bed. I helped her crawl back up to her pillow. Did she want to get tucked in? No. Okay, see you in the morning.

AND IT WORKED! I went back to bed and didn't hear a peep until Em came in around 6:10.

Please, PLEASE tell me that we have turned a corner. PLEASE.

I'll let you know how Night Number Three goes.....

20 comments:

Tina Michelle said...

Oh I so hope it works for you. My youngest still wakes at night ocassionally asking to sleep with me. I have to had to work pretty hard to get both the girls to stay in their own bed all night. We bought a special princess nightlight, let them pick special stuffed animals to sleep with. We even let them sleep with each other. I demonstrated how they kick and push me in their sleep and it made them crack up laughing but it caught their attention. I now remind them often (well I guess not as much anymore) that it hurts when they sleep with me and I am a much nicer and happier mama when they let me sleep and they stay put in their own beds! We also read a few books from the library on sleeping in your own bed and that helped. I had a few freakouts in the middle of my sleepless routines as well. *hugs* hoping you get many more sleep filled nights.

Wendy said...

sometimes, you need to scare the shit out of them before they get that momma isn't kidding. Fingers crossed for a good night three and four and five...

Jen said...

I'm glad you got to get some much needed rest! I hope this is it!!

Anonymous said...

http://www.prudentbaby.com/2010/12/tape-trick.html

Doubly Blessed said...

Here's hoping!

MandyE (Twin Trials and Triumphs) said...

Crossing my fingers and toes for you that this is the beginning of a great trend!!!

Anna and Jay said...

Congratulations! What a great accomplishment! I bet you felt like a million dollars! We've been having sleep issues that started with my husband's deployment. He's back now after 7 months and I'm hoping that we get back to our old sleep habits VERY quickly.

Marcia (123 blog) said...

I really hope this is IT for you!

Don't you feel like a new woman?

JEN said...

On the night you slept through did you wake up and wonder what exactly happened?

Fingers crossed for you!

Kayla said...

Oh, I hope this is a new time for you all.

I made so many "mistakes" with my first and sleep. I used to cry with frustration, right along with her, every night for up to 4 hours. It was h*llish. She is now 6 and usually goes to bed well.

With my twins, we worked really hard to get a great sleep pattern. Boy, were we blessed. I say were because lately, one of my 2.5 year olds is totally afraid of going to bed in her room. She is terrified of "the wind", "the noise" and sometimes, "the cat". Screaming ensues (on her part) and I feel terrible and check in with her, but that just makes it worse. So she and her sister, they share a room, are SO TIRED, which leads to SO CRANKY. Yikes, I hope this phase passes soon.

Julia said...

Oh dear, I feel for you. If this is the first time you've lost it (and even if it is the fifth), you are higher up in my hero chart.

I believe it can be a new stage in your lives, I think at that age and development point it is much likelier to work.

My girls still nurse to sleep, every night, and then 2-3 times during the night. Naptime, too. They have done naptime with Daddy, but that was in one of the few occasions I had to work out of home. I have tried to make them drop the nurse-sleep association, but then it takes them hours, or at least one hour, to sleep, and that is so not worth it. It was making me flip out even more than the nursing (which is usually over in 5-15 min.) I never planned to wean them before they were ready and willing, so it is not like I am too surprised, I just wished they would sleep for longer stretches.

So now I am inspired by your experience and even if the light is more than a year away at the end of the tunnel, at least I can see it.

Luci said...

Oh congratulations!! Been there with the Psycho mom part. My daughter slept great as a baby, but now as we approach 4 (April 18th) it takes forever to get her to fall asleep with me rubbing her back. She wakes up about 2 times a night and has a million excuses why. So after last nights adventures I told her we are going to do bedtime bootcamp this weekend, she needs to stay in her bed and go to sleep without me in her room. Wish me luck!

katy said...

I hope this is it for you! I can't imagine how you have managed this long with so little rest, you're amazing. Good luck!

Tim and Darcy said...

I don't know how you've made it this long with out good sleep. My triplets have been sleeping through the night since they were about 6 months old and I am STILL tired (and have gone psycho a time or two...or more :) just from the daily happenings of raising three 3yr olds! Crossing my fingers for you and hoping it all goes well!!!

Amber said...

Oh I really really hope you've turned a corner. My guy hasn't STTN yet, but he's only 19 months (only - ha!) and there's only 1 of him. I know how burnt out I am after a year and a half of this. I just can't imagine how you keep it together. Hoping for a fantastic update from you!

Kristen said...

Awesome! Just keep being consistent. They need those boundaries, they need to know that they need to sleep in those little beds of theirs no matter how much they don't like it right now.

Cassie said...

I am constantly wondering why I have to go psycho before anyone LISTENS to me!!! It makes me feel awful, but the fact that it WORKS, is positive reinforcement on my end.... I dont know how you do it, my patience is contantly hanging by a thread! I really hope this is a turning point for you!

Meg :) said...

Fingers crossed!! :)

Helen said...

Oh, I hope it has worked! I would have absolutely lost it so much sooner than you!

Hope's Mama said...

Oh I hope you have. I'm only 14 months in to sleep deprivation hell and there is only one of him. I am in absolute awe of you that you are still standing, working and functioning.
xo