Quiet time
Suddenly everything makes a little bit more sense. In my opinion I have been dealing well with having a child who has to be held or sleep with me. For the first few months she’d sleep on our chests and in the evening I would hand her over to daddy while he watched TV from the recliner, that was how I got my “me” time and it worked just fine. But then when she hit the stage of wanting to go to bed I was stuck with a major dilemma: she would only sleep if I laid down with her, too. She was just getting used to the whole idea of sleeping horizontal to start with, and there was no way she was going to be okay with being put down. Nope, nada. So I ended up going to bed long before I was tired and was basically stuck in bed for 12 hours. I love my sleep, but apparently there is such a thing as too much – who knew?? Naps, too, were the same thing – the only way I could get a good nap out of her was to stay down with her. But I worked at transitioning her and now every day she takes almost all of her naps by herself! I do nurse her to sleep, but that usually takes less than 5 minutes and then I get up and have free time! However in the evenings she would not accept that. When it was dark out and she wanted to go to bed for the night she would insist that I stay down with her – insist by crying every single time I left the room. Uber frustrating, especially since she did not do that for naps!
The last few days, since the cold is gone and her sleep schedule has settled back down again, I have been able to get up in the evening after putting her to bed! This either gives me time with my husband – which is, wow, INSANE – or, since he likes to go to bed at the same time as she does, some quiet time. Not just nap time when I know she’s going to be up any minute now, when the dogs are barking and hammers are hammering, but true silence. Oh my gosh, I forgot how much I love these hours in the dark of night, time to just sit and think and work on my creative stuff. It. Is. Glorious. Kate is still semi-waking every hour or two, crying for me, and I go in and comfort her back to sleep. I would like her to not need me to do that, but one step at a time!
After the cold left she had a few days of 30-minute naps. We had no clue what was up with that, but she was not whiny or upset in any way, just a happy-go-lucky girl who barely napped. Very unusual for her. I shrugged and just went with it. Well today she had a meltdown after a couple of short naps so when I got home from errands and appointments I put her to sleep and she slept for 2 hours. Wow, that is unusual! Then again for her evening nap, another 2 hour nap. We weren’t sure she was going to wake up at all or if she was down for the night! (She did wake up, but was ready for bed an hour later.)
Reading those darn books had me thinking, my gosh, we need to put her to bed earlier! We are bad parents keeping her up so late! She goes to bed at 10pm now. But then I realized she wakes up at 9am – and she’s really very consistent with that. That’s an 11 hour overnight stretch, which is perfectly normal for a baby her age. (Broken up by a couple of nursings, but barely rouses for those.) I’m actually quite happy with that. I’m a night owl, as you can tell. So it’s a little unconventional, but it works.
Speaking of bed…. I need to get there or I’m going to be cranky when she wakes me up in the morning. Her newest obsession is touching our faces, specifically putting her hands in our mouths. Guess how she wakes me up now? Ha.
I LOVE my quiet time too…dont get me wrong,I love to spend time alone with my husband also,but when he´s not around or asleep and the kids are all tucked up in bed,its like heaven on earth lol.
I turn off the TV,put the radio on a low volume,and just sit..enjoying the peace,being able to hear my own thoughts and just sitting without having to jump up because Noelia is hanging from the ceiling or because my older kids are arguing.
Noe used to wake up alot too before I went to bed,but dont worry,they grow out of that.EVERYONE wakes up throughout the night,but as we grow up we learn to just turn over and go back to sleep without even remembering that we were awake..Kate will soon learn how to do that ;)
I remember being bored before my children,I remember not knowing what to do with all that free time..well now,being bored is a HUGE luxury,one that I even crave! lol
As for Kates bedtime,it sounds very reasonable to me.I know most moms in the US get up with their kids at 6am (some earlier!! :O) and their kids are in bed by -7pm..well,that wouldent work for me at all.6am!? No way! Ive only been in bed for 3 hours at that point lol
Noelia goes to bed at 10:30-11pm and she´s up 12 hours later.We are also night owls and late risers around here (all the spanish are) so there´s no way on earth that any kids here could go to bed at 7pm,because that would mean getting up waaaaaaaaaaaay to early lol
Going to bed “late” works around here,because we like to lay in.Do you realise how many mums would LOVE to get up as “late” as you do?? ;) lol
Even to me,9am is EARLY! lol
Consider yourself very lucky..you have a fantastic rutine :)
WTG Kate!!! :D
I agree with Gina – the late bedtime is fine, as long as she’s sleeping long enough. My son goes to bed at 10 and wakes up somewhere between 7 and 8, usually, which is fine for a 2-year-old. When I was working full-time, I was glad to have some time with him in the evenings, and on weekends (and now every day) I like being able to sleep later. Plus it means we can go places in the evenings. Don’t worry about the sleep books!
“Plus it means we can go places in the evenings.”
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Thats VERY true Deborah! I have a few English friends who´s kids go to bed so early (around -7pm) that they never get to go anywhere in the evening.
No parties,no dinners,no going to see friends etc.I can take my kids EVERYWHERE we go and its so much fun for them too.
They love going out to dinner at night,or for long walks on the beach at night in the summer etc,I also visit my sister or mum at night sometimes and they love going out late.
Getting up at 6am may work for many many people,but the way I see it,where can you go at that time of the morning? The park? Shopping? Not much to do at 6am lol.
Once you can get them out of the house and their day really starts,you only have a few good hours to enjoy the day,because before you know it,its their bed time again.
Getting them up late gives you a little more freedom ;)
Yup. E is an early to bed or he is CRANKERS. It definitely puts a crimp in taking him to nighttime stuff. Hopefully he’ll start going later as he gets older. Daycare makes it harder for him b/c he has to get up so early, and it wears him out more.. which always leads me back to … I HATE WORKING FULL TIME.
And I told ya she’d get better! It will keep happening. You’re doing a good job. We had that rough transition phase too where I didn’t want to be in bed as much as I was.