Because three years to the DAY I was blogging about how my three month old baby was getting up every night to play and my two year old Laina was getting up to be covered up and my four year old Maile was sighing at the edge of my bed like some kind of creepy…four year old.
If you had told me then, that three years later my three year old son was still getting up to play and that my five year old Laina was getting up to sleep in my bed and cough in my face and that my six year old Maile was…the only one actually sleeping (CHEERS!)…I don’t think I would have believed you.
It’s natural for people to sleep right? It’s just something we all have to do. We simply cannot function all of our lives on two to three hour chunks of sleep at a time.
Or can we?
Because it’s been three hot damn years and I’M STILL GETTING UP!
What gives? Is it just me? Are you guys sleeping? Am I just getting extra special treatment from my kids? Should I be locking them in their bedrooms?
Loukia says
You are not alone mama! I’m still co-sleeping with my 2.5 year old! My husband and I have not slept in the same bed in… years.
So yeah. We have some issues. Anyway, when my oldest son moved into his room at like 10 months old, I brought a matress in his room and slept on the floor. Until I gave birth to my second child, when he was 2. Then baby slept in our room. Then baby slept in MY bed. And hubby sleeps with 5 year old. (Queen sized bed). My 2 year old gets up at 1 a.m everyday. Last night, 5 a.m. wake-up. He walked to his room, and asked me to read him a book. And then we had to go get a bottle of milk. AND no matter what…. they’ll get up no later than 7. Sigh.
I’m with you. Haven’t slept properly in years. Oh! And I don’t go to bed myself until 12:30. Sigh sigh sigh!
Michelle says
I think you’re getting the extra special treatment.
Finn (3) usually wakes up once a week or so, usually half asleep to go to the bathroom, but last night he wanted Dave to get up with him to hold his hand. For a long time he didn’t get up at all, but now he does from time to time.
Joanna says
You’re not the only one losing sleep! Last night I was up at least three times – once to help my three year old go potty, the second time to change my three year old out of her footed pj’s because she complained of her toes hurting (last years pj’s are a little snug, I guess), and the third time to bring the same three year old back to bed after she thought it was a good idea to play on the floor of our bedroom at 5am. But, on the bright side, I never hear a peep out of my 5 and 9 year olds, so there is hope!
CBG says
Oh you’re not the only one. My 2.5 year old doesn’t sleep all that much either, and never has!
CBG
canadianbloggergirl.blogspot.com
Missy @ Wonder, Friend says
You are not alone! I actually just wrote about sleep disruption, too. Kids are so weird and that weirdness extends to their sleep habits. We sleep okay most nights, but then we’ll have a string of strange nights, complete with the staring-at-you-while-you-sleep four year old and a teething, cranky 17 month old. Just about the time I think we have it made, they throw me for a loop and start up with the weird sleep habits again.
Jill says
I’m with you! my 4 yr has issues. I can count on 2 hand the number of nights he has stayed in his bed all night long. Drives me nuts! We will go through phases when I get really strict & don’t let him in my bed at all. But somehow we fall right back into it again.
Kristin says
You are so not alone. I honestly have not slept for more than 4 hours without being woken up in nearly 5 years. Only my 8 year old actually sleeps well in his own bed all night long. I can’t wait for the teen years when I am dragging them out of bed at 10am.
Sara says
DS1 is having trouble adjusting to kindergarten. He’s up almost every night with bad dreams. We’re all tired! Going to try putting him in his brother’s room tonight. Fingers crossed :)
MommaResa says
Oh man… the stories. I’ve just started putting my 2 yr old in her own bed (its a toddler bed, but still in my room) And she’s slept through one whole night. The other two nights she climbed in my bed between 3 and 4 am. And she a bed hog, she sleeps horizontally in the middle of the bed, so I’m constantly pushing her over. Ugh. And my 5 month old wakes up for a bottle between 4:45 and 5 every morning. And then he’s ready to play for a couple hours, but Momma’s alarm doesn’t sound until 6:15, and by then everyone else is back to sleep and I have to start getting ready for work. Talk about fun!
Shell says
You mean it’s wrong that I barricade my 2 year-old in his room so I can sleep?
Losing Brownies says
Oh gosh, please don’t say that. My nearly 5 month old gets up twice a night and I’m drained. I’m not working now, but when I go back next school year I don’t know if I’ll be able to survive on the few hours I get.
Kristi {at} Live and Love...Out Loud says
Pshht! Kat, I’m not sleeping either. In fact, my 18 month old loves waking up from 3-6:30am. All the smiles in the world cant make up for the fact that this mama isn’t getting any sleep.
Kristi, Live and Love…Out Loud
@TweetingMama
Trippin' Mama says
My first NEVER slept through the night — not even by the “five hours at a stretch” definition — until she was 11 months old. She’s 4 now and it’s still a much-noted accomplishment for her to sleep all night.
When I found out I was pregnant with triplets I prayed and prayed and prayed they’d sleep better than her. They did, but that’s not saying much. Then at 8 months old one of the boys went nuts and QUIT sleeping for more than 90 minutes at a stretch. OMG. Thought I would die from lack of sleep.
Now that the boys are two, they do much better, but we had to sleep train them at 18 months to really make progress. But I still get up at night to pat crying kids or give a pacifier. I’m afraid if I don’t then the whole crowd will wake up!
I hear about people whose kids sleep 12 hours a night (we’re an early-rising crowd here, of course), and I always think they owe me. After all, given the law of averages, I figure their kids sleep because mine don’t.
My mom had 8 kids. I’m the youngest and in my thirties, and she claims she only recently learned how to sleep more than 4 hours at a stretch after so many years of getting up with kids.
Bottom line: Catnapping (Katnapping to you!?) is a survival skill for most moms. Hang in there!
Christy
Jen says
I get sleep and then some nights I get a steady stream of kids waking up sometimes its because they are scared or sick but other times its to give me a pj fashion show.
I say, lock the door and tie them to their beds.
Jennifer says
My big one walks, talks and screams in her sleep. And those aren’t the nights when she’s trying to crawl into bed with us because she had a nightmare. Now the little one has learned he can crawl out of bed any time he wants. The stinker. I’m actually not sure when I’ll ever get to sleep again.
liz says
Mine sleep, and always have (once they reached the point of being able to make it all night without a feeding).
Don’t hate, alright?
dawn says
well- i could lie and say… heck Yeah! You get to get sleep as soon as ….
but nope, that’s just plain mean so I won’t.
The sad part is that eventually they will sleep. But by then you’ll be so used to NOT sleeping that… you guessed it. You’ll be the only one in the house staring at the ceiling counting those darn Serta Sheep!
Sorry, but yes, that is the truth… I should know… 6 kids and hubby all sleep like, well, babies and me… toss and turn and pretend to sleep then I just get up and put on the coffee and enjoy the silence of the house until it’s too silent and I have to turn on the tv or something.
Rachel {at} Mommy Needs a Vacation says
I go the tough love route- doors shut, can’t come out, etc.. it took 1 night of screaming and then nothing. Both of my kids sleep 12 hours a night. I know, you hate me now. My mom calls me the sleep nazis.
Nicole @Defining Moments says
I think you’re getting the extra special treatment……my girls all sleep. Even the twins. I know….I know….TOTALLY lucky. The twins started sleeping through from 6pm-5am-ish at around 6 months…and my five-year old only gets up as early as the twins because they are so “cheerful” in the wee hours of the morning – squealing, and at times yelling to be fed. But, I get 8-5am free of waking :-/ I’m sorry Mama! Hang in there!
stephanie says
SO with you… i’ve been going on sleep deprivation for 6 years now. it seems its always something…
and the most annoying part of it is all the moms who are all, “oh, you just need to…” or “you know, you should…”
Jeannette says
lol… my 10 month old has started sleeping through the night again (he did when he was newborn then stopped at about 3 months) but I still wake up every night around 3-4am. I guess he trained me. I hope I’m getting some sleep by the time he’s three. It’s already been over a year since I last slept more than 4 hours straight.
Tabitha the KnittingJourneyman says
You are not alone–and look at everyone else here–neither am I! I have a 7 and a 9 yo…the 7 yo is liable to creep into bed w us at any moment…the 9yo usually only creeps in after nightmares or first thing in the morning and she’s up first. We started out co-sleeping. Then it was just the kids and me in one bed. Then I had everyone pick out their own bed for their own room–with the agreement that they would at least try to spend the entire night in their own room…so far, we’re still trying…what can I say? :)
Lady Mama says
Nope. No sleep here. I wonder the same thing every day. My older son is 3.5, my younger son is 21 months and I think the last time I slept was about, um, 2 years ago. I think I’m just going to keep having babies because I’ve given up on the concept of sleep.
Jannica says
I sleep like a dream! My husband on the other hand is another story…he’s the one who gets up and tends to the kiddos when they wake. Not me…nope, I refuse. I am home all stinkin’ day with them…as soon as hubby walks through that door I am off duty, it’s all martini’s and DVR for me.
erica says
Remember how at Bloggy Boot Camp Philly we were talking about kids and you told me it can be pretty much nightmarish for like,the first three years? Yeah, I think not sleeping counts as nightmarish.
kisatrtle says
you are not alone but I’m afraid the story of my almost 12 year old daughter sleeping on the floor in my bedroom is a story that may depress you instead of help you. Perhaps we could talk about say around 3 a.m.
Kristin says
I guess I’m lucky, once I quit nursing my youngest he started sleeping through the night with little to no interruption what so ever. My 7 (almost 8) year old however, occasionally will still get me up and say, “mommy I can’t sleep” *sigh*
Julie @ Practically Spent says
So glad you said something. I’ve always had a secret hatred for the mothers whose babies (like 3 months) were “sleeping through the night”, and also for the ones who have to wake napping preschoolers after 3-hours naps, and whose 5 year olds still “lie down to rest and usually fall asleep”. Bourbon? Is that the trick?
My oldest wouldn’t sleep until she was 2, and gave up napping at 13 months. My youngest woke up AT LEAST once every single night for over 2.5 years, and was done with naps around 28 months. And I have chronic fatigue syndrome even WITHOUT all their “help”. Long live coffee!
Liz@Loving Mom says
Well its been 2 1/2 years since I have had a solid week of a good night’s sleep. My littlest guy still wakes SCREAMING 2-7 times a week. But the glutton for punishment that I am….I will be adding a little PINK screaming non sleeping bundle of joy to our brood in December so I am just not even planning on sleeping again for another year or 10.
Melissa says
I’m up EVERY night with my 5 year old…She comes and crawls into my bed…OR she comes and gets me…just to take her back to her bed and tuck her back in! Then…My 3 year old wakes up at 5 am…EVERY SINGLE DAY! My only saving grace is that I got divorced so they go to their dads every other weekend…I sleep a TON on those weekends!
Texan Mama says
Sadly, I think I do things in my sleep now. I used to fully wake up to take care of feeding, bad dreams, and wet beds. Now I just mumble something and then pull them into bed with me. The next morning I always say, “Where did you come from?” Not joking, I’m serious! I just am too pooped to remember anything!!
Kate says
For fear of making the whole world mommy world mad at me & jinxing myself I won’t tell you that my 16 mo sleeps 12 1/2 hours every night. I will tell you that he slept in bed with us the first 10 months & it was absolutely wonderful & miserable all at the same time-I thought I was never going to sleep again. And I’m quite terrified of having more children b/c there is no guarantee or chance in hell that I’m going to end up with multiple great sleepers!
Erin says
My 1st born never slept through the night until he was about 2 1/2, he doesn’t get up in the middle of the night now, but we had to just let him sit in his crib and play, jump, cry…whatever he needed to do, we slept right thorough. My youngest, slept through the night from 6 months. He’s my easy one!
Heather says
I’ve been surviving on 5 hours of sleep a night for years now, not because of kids but because of menopause. It’s do-able, sorta.
Dominique @Dominique's Desk says
You’re not the only one. I too haven’t been getting a good night’s sleep for the past 7yrs ( since #1 was born).. with #3 at 1mth old and waking every 2 hrs.. the longest I get uninterrupted sleep is for 1.5hrs each time. I too have been surviving on minimal sleep and taking cap naps as and when possible.
Jessica Nunemaker says
This makes me feel a little better!
Our 1 year old still wakes up at LEAST three times a night. Luckily I don’t have to get up with him (hubs is the stay at home dad. I stay home too, but I work from home) but it’s hard sleeping through screaming baby.
At least our first-born sleeps. Usually. We never had trouble with him sleeping through. We should have known we couldn’t be that lucky twice!
Laura @ The Things I Said I'd Never Do says
So you are saying there’s no hope? Crap.
Anastasia says
My 4 yr old totally does that creepster thing. It scares the bejusus out of me and she only really does it to me because she knows I’m lazy and a sucker. Daddy will put her back in bed.