Good Night
My kids are great sleepers. I have nothing to complain about, and plenty to brag. All three share a room, and despite the potential for screaming and poking related shenanigans, all three fall asleep and stay asleep easily at night. Meanwhile, other unfortunate parents share their beds and/or endure children waking in the middle of the night well into year two and beyond. One of our neighbors has a son about as old as our boys, and he still regularly wakes up in the middle of the night, staying awake for as long as a couple hours. I know this is mostly the result of me winning the baby lottery while others hope to salvage a free play out of their losing ticket. Still, I’d like to think their sleep habits are a result of my superior parenting skills, summed up by the philosophy “that kid had better figure out how to fall asleep because I’m not getting up.”
Even though I still keep the monitor on overnight, they usually don’t wake me. I don’t even judge a “good night” as one where everyone sleeps all night, but classify a “good night” as one when Abbie leaves her diaper on until morning.
Last night, though, the kids gave me a rough time. I don’t know what the impetus was. Teething and nightmares could have played a part, as could their knowledge that I stumbled into bed late.
It started around 1am when Abbie woke up screaming. I walked into her room and found her resting comfortably in bed, surrounded by stuffed animals, and screaming hysterically. Her diaper was still attached and non-poopy, so that wasn’t a problem. I tried giving her the burp cloth she needs to fall asleep, but couldn’t find it in the dark. I walked out of the room to retrieve one, and severely ticked her off in the process. All was forgiven as she snuggled with her new burp cloth and immediately set about falling asleep. I stayed in the room for a minute to ensure she didn’t need anything else like the stuffed animal she was using as a pillow fluffed, or that the twins rustling in their cribs didn’t need pacified. Abbie stared at me the whole time, wondering why I was still bothering her.
About four hours later, I heard Ian complaining. I tried ignoring him, hoping he’d whimper himself back to sleep, but the amplitude of his screams steadily increased. I walked into their room as he approached full-blown wail. I tried giving him a pacifier, but he refused it. He seems to be outgrowing the pacifier as he nears his first birthday, which is generally a good thing but not when I want him to calm down at 5:30am. Not wanting to wake his roommates any more than they already were, I picked him up and carried him out of the room. I was prepared to set him in the Pack ‘N Play in our room and let him scream himself back to sleep, but he immediately calmed down when I picked him up. We took an early morning tour of the house, bid mommy bye-bye on her way to work, and I returned him to his crib. While his roommates complained for a few minutes at the disruption, Ian fell right back to sleep, or at least stayed quiet.
I returned to my bed, hoping to salvage something from the night. I awoke promptly at their wake time to the sounds of Abbie banging on the door. I had hoped everybody would sleep in after a night of commotion, but no luck. I opened the door, saw Abbie’s diaper was still attached, and realized it had still been a good night. Never mind that she’d emptied every shirt out of her dresser sometime overnight.
Even though I still keep the monitor on overnight, they usually don’t wake me. I don’t even judge a “good night” as one where everyone sleeps all night, but classify a “good night” as one when Abbie leaves her diaper on until morning.
Last night, though, the kids gave me a rough time. I don’t know what the impetus was. Teething and nightmares could have played a part, as could their knowledge that I stumbled into bed late.
It started around 1am when Abbie woke up screaming. I walked into her room and found her resting comfortably in bed, surrounded by stuffed animals, and screaming hysterically. Her diaper was still attached and non-poopy, so that wasn’t a problem. I tried giving her the burp cloth she needs to fall asleep, but couldn’t find it in the dark. I walked out of the room to retrieve one, and severely ticked her off in the process. All was forgiven as she snuggled with her new burp cloth and immediately set about falling asleep. I stayed in the room for a minute to ensure she didn’t need anything else like the stuffed animal she was using as a pillow fluffed, or that the twins rustling in their cribs didn’t need pacified. Abbie stared at me the whole time, wondering why I was still bothering her.
About four hours later, I heard Ian complaining. I tried ignoring him, hoping he’d whimper himself back to sleep, but the amplitude of his screams steadily increased. I walked into their room as he approached full-blown wail. I tried giving him a pacifier, but he refused it. He seems to be outgrowing the pacifier as he nears his first birthday, which is generally a good thing but not when I want him to calm down at 5:30am. Not wanting to wake his roommates any more than they already were, I picked him up and carried him out of the room. I was prepared to set him in the Pack ‘N Play in our room and let him scream himself back to sleep, but he immediately calmed down when I picked him up. We took an early morning tour of the house, bid mommy bye-bye on her way to work, and I returned him to his crib. While his roommates complained for a few minutes at the disruption, Ian fell right back to sleep, or at least stayed quiet.
I returned to my bed, hoping to salvage something from the night. I awoke promptly at their wake time to the sounds of Abbie banging on the door. I had hoped everybody would sleep in after a night of commotion, but no luck. I opened the door, saw Abbie’s diaper was still attached, and realized it had still been a good night. Never mind that she’d emptied every shirt out of her dresser sometime overnight.
posted by Matt at
11:49 PM
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