This is NOT playtime
I was going to write a post, but this is the second night in a row that Kate will not sleep. No time alone = no time to write. She’s not crying or screaming… she’s WIDE AWAKE. Even when I cajole and nurse her to sleep and tiptoe away, she fidgets and wakes up less than 30 minutes later. Last night that’s how it was all night long. All. Night. Long. Every 30 minutes, just as I was finally dozing off, she’s wake up again. And she was up and playing from 4 to 6am, just rolling around and making noise.
It is currently 12:45am. Kate is playing on the floor, happy as a clam. Well, she whines at me every once in a while, but it’s a “Come join me!” whine, not a “I’m so tired!” whine. I don’t have the fortitude for another night of waking every 30 minutes so I’m trying to let her tire herself out before we go to bed. I stuck her in her jumper and wrapped christmas presents while she whined at me. Me, being a bratty parent, said, “Oh, I’m sorry, are you bored? This is mama wrapping presents. YOU are supposed to be sleeping. Instead you are awake, watching me wrap presents. If it’s so boring maybe you should go to bed.”
No idea what’s up with this. She’s never done this, ever. There have been nights of crying, yes. And there have been nights of fidgeting and frequent wake-ups. But only when sick, not just “to play.” Blah.
(note – my phone didn’t let me see the bottom of my comment, apologies for typos etc) N did something similar right when she turned 6 months – literally it was that very week, as if she said ‘i’m 6 months old now, I am no longer a baby!’ Hah. I have vivid memories of dragging a blanket and my pillows to the floor of her bedroom in the middle of the night; of trying to pull her into bed with us, and then just with me in the guest room, and her thinking it was the Best Thing Ever!!!
It did pass, though we had to be total hard asses, and that really was the end of her being able to co-sleep at all, which sstull makes me’ sad. But night + moms = party to her apparently.
Thankfully she did finally conk out at 1am and slept pretty well. Not perfect, but a heck of a lot better than last night. So apparently last week (or whenever it was) when she started dropping her evening nap… she really meant it. NO MORE naps after 6pm!!!!
Glad to hear you got to sleep eventually. Unfortunately, “she’s never done this before” will probably be something you say a lot as she grows up.
Evie went through periods of this right before she either had a major growth spurt or major milestone pounce. Hugs.
E did this a few times. It seemed to coincide with developmental stuff for him. It took a few days to a week each time for him to come out of it.