*whew long title*
I have been laughing about my sleepless nights for the past few weeks. I absolutely have to or else I will become permanently deranged. Just recently, we moved our 2yr old daughter from her crib onto a full size bed in her own room. She has been sleeping through the night since 6 weeks old. Everything was dandy for the first month or so of the transition. She definitely did enjoy sharing a room with her 1 year old baby sister, but now, with so much bed space, she could finally spread out her little limbs and move around freely.
No more worrying about getting her foot stuck in the crib railings. No more failed attempts at escaping out. We were so proud that finally our big little girl could fall fast asleep in her new spacious bed.
I would brag about how smoothly the transition went. Maybe I spoke too soon? Ha! I definitely did. She now wakes up like 10 times a night…..crying! And I have been waking up in the middle of the night as if I went back in time to when I was fresh on maternity leave.
A few times my child has lurked by my bedside real quietly and it freaked me out because, as much as I hate to admit it, I’m afraid of the dark sometimes. Yep, I said it. Mommy is afraid of the dark……sometimes. However, I quickly recuperate from a fast beating heartbeat and try to forget the fact that I actually thought for a second that my daughter was a little ghost watching me. SMH. So I go to put her back under her covers only to repeat the same scene a few more times after that.
I know it’s normal and it’s just a phase we must go through, but my husband and I keep asking ourselves why. We wonder about what we can do to keep her in bed until a reasonable time in the morning so that we can all rise and shine.
Everyone always tells you what to do so we came up with some silly ideas on what NOT to do in order to survive these occurrences:
TOP TEN THINGS NOT TO DO
- Don’t let your toddler decide when he/she should go to bed. You decide
- Don’t confuse that straitjacket for your pajamas/robe. I know lack of sleep can play tricks on you.
- Don’t read a bedtime horror story to your toddler
- Don’t offer a sugary sweet midnight snack in hopes of negotiating a deal with your toddler about going to bed peacefully
- Don’t be too cheerful when encouraging your child back to sleep
- Don’t turn on a night light if it’s going to cast creepy shadows
- Don’t turn on the heat too high or the AC too cold, leave it just right
- Don’t forget that there will be a night when this will all just stop and you will all sleep happily ever after.
- Don’t feel hopeless. You will make it through.
- And mommy, don’t forget to make sure you have some extra coffee and extra concealer or something.
