Night wake-ups have to be one of the best parts of being mother of a new baby. Getting a full night’s sleep is way over rated. Besides, TV in the middle of the night is so quality and interesting.
I understood I would be getting up with the new baby. What I didn't understand or agree to is getting up with my two-year-old. What is this about? All of a sudden she is afraid of the dark, afraid of scary monsters, needs a drink of milk, or can’t find her bed buddies (stuffed animals), so she wakes up crying. Luckily she isn’t up for a long time, but I just can’t take any extraneous sleep interruptions during the night. Plus I am always afraid the cry means the dreaded throw-ups are here for another visit.
Alyssa is handling the whole big sister thing like a champ. She loves her. In fact, she acts like it’s the best thing that has ever happened to her. But she rarely used to wake up in the night. Are these things related, even though they don’t seem to be?
To those who have gone before me….Did your kids do this? How long did it last? Is there anything I can do to stop it? Also, how long (duration) are/have you been up in the night with your new babies, just wondering what normal is…one hour, two hours, fifteen minutes?
Your advice and or information on the subject is appreciated.
11 comments:
parker never had a problem with nate waking up in the middle of the night. but i do remember feeling like i was going to fall over from lack of sleep.
i love you tons but please dont call me at 2am when you see something cool on tv with your girls...just blog about it!
parker never had a problem with nate waking up in the middle of the night. but i do remember feeling like i was going to fall over from lack of sleep.
i love you tons but please dont call me at 2am when you see something cool on tv with your girls...just blog about it!
That is my biggest fear with #2 just around the corner. They have to share a room, and I can just see myself up with 2 crying boys every night. I've gotten so used to sleeping through the night. I don't know if I'm ready to be up all the time! Good Luck to you. Let me know how things progress!
At first Max and I were up for about an hour in the night now it is down to about 10 minutes two times. So no real complaints. About Alyssa waking up in the night- Turner hasn't had that problem yet but he has become more agressive and acting out. My child psycology experience would say that even though they seem unrelated they probably aren't. It isn't that she doesn't like her little sister it is just an adjustment and knowing that you are there even in the middle of the night is important to her. Something has changed but she wants to make sure that everything hasn't changed. Good luck with it- your an awesome mom!
sunny is getting so big! she's like a different baby! i wish i was there to see her grow! you need to be posting more pictures of your girls!
as for the sleep thing... i'm with jen... i'm a little worried about the sharing of the room thing... guess we'll cross that bridge when we get there eh?!
good luck w/alyssa... i have no advice to give except maybe do they make childrens nyquil? and if not... why?
On page 976 of the owners manual it states that: "...little girls are just more difficult than little boys and that those who have 2 little girls in a row must have done something very evil in a previous life to warrant such a punishment."
...what, your's didn't come with an owner's manual????
A real answer to your question would be that Brady has been doing that exact same thing for the last 6 months or so, so Alyssa is right on schedule for "driving your mom crazy in the middle of the night" syndrome. Brady doesn't ask for water since we just leave a sippy of water in bed with him now but he only drinks about 2 oz. of it a night so it's not like a "bottle in the bed" thing. But he wakes up and calls for me for all the same reasons Alyssa is. He's usually only up for the 2 minutes it takes me to go in and rectify the situation. I try to be as quiet as possible, not turn on any lights, and not say anything (or as little as possible). It's decreased lately so hopefully yours does too. Plus she is probably sleeping lighter with a new baby in the house. For me it's actually nice to be needed now and then by my little independent 3 year old, even if it is in the dead of night. I'm sure my view on that will change greatly once "boy 2" is born. But for now, I don't quite mind still being needed a little.
Hana
It's been too long, I can't remember. HaHa. I would say Alyssa getting up is directly related to the new baby. That's not good or bad, just normal (if there is a normal). It is also directly related to her age. Kids get up at night. Period. If you had three kids older than her, she'd still be getting up, but you just wouldn't notice or probably even care. And you should treat her her own age, not the baby's. Baby needs to be up at night and you should give her all the love and nourishment she needs. Alyssa doesn't need to be up.
If you want to discourage it, make it uncomfortable for her to be up so she would rather be in bed. Make her stand at the sink and drink water from a cup instead of giving her a sippy of milk in bed. Don't let her watch tv. In fact, don't really even talk to her. There is plenty of time in the day to love and hug and kiss and babytalk her.
Conversely, the faster you meet her needs to her liking, the faster you can get back to bed. It's about whether you're willing to take a stand right now when you're so tired, or if you'd rather wait until you're getting more sleep to take her on. For me, I always choose sleep. I'd still be getting my kids bottles of warm milk in the middle of the night if Dave hadn't put his foot down. I've been known to put in a movie for Kam and just snooze on my couch because I know she'll put herself to sleep before it's over.
One of the things that works very best for me is being honest with my kids and explaining to them WHY. Kids can understand and process and respond to a lot more than we give them credit for. If I explain to my kids that Mommy is feeling sick, all of a sudden they are not asking for juice but bringing me pillows and blankets instead and then wandering off to play.
As you know, I have the most wonderful husband in the whole world, when the other kids wake up at night I nudge him and he takes care of it. I hardly ever get up with them. Maybe ask Steve to help you out a bit.
Kristin!! I am so glad I found you on this whole blogging thing!! I was trying to get a hold of your mom a week ago to get a yummy recipe my in-laws loved at my bridal shower! I am in VA beach for the summer, but when we get back I am still up for babysitting : )
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