Tired Days

Last night, my baby was up every hour, on the hour. He became inconsolable (wouldn’t even nurse!) at 3:30 and pretty much cried until he woke up his older brother. So then I had 2 kids awake for the day and I was operating on a few wee naps.

I will tell you right now, I started ugly crying. I was a wreck! My husband waited until I calmed down a bit and suggested he sleep for a bit and then I could have a long nap the next time I nursed the baby. Thankfully, this all happened on a weekend day so I was able to do this! Otherwise I would have been a disaster.

sleeping nursing baby

See how he is asleep while nursing? Just you watch what happens if I try to roll away.

It seems so unfair somehow that both of my babies ended up as terrible sleepers. Someone is up at our house every few hours, and it’s gotten to where I have a hard time falling asleep even when the children are asleep because I’m so used to being “on watch.”

Nights like last night, I always debate whether to nurse my baby back to sleep or to ask my husband to rock him back to sleep. When I do ask my husband to help, I still lie there awake while he’s marching the baby around, because more often than not, our son won’t be put-down-able unless he’s nursed. So it’s like calling on my husband just prolongs the time I’m awake.

Ah, we’ve tried all the methods and read all the books and sort of read along about Nurshable’s Wait It Out club. I tried pumping and asking my husband to do a night time bottle every now and then, but my little dude only wants milk from the tap. We know there is nothing “wrong” with the children, that they will someday sleep or at least not require us to be awake with them. We know all this and we know it will pass and that the only way past it is through it.

But, oh my! Days like today are doozies. Tempers are short, energy reserves from mom and dad do not match the energy levels of zesty little boys. We watch a lot of Mighty Machines on days like today, catching cat naps on the sofa while our kids learn about snow plows and hovercrafts.

We had company for dinner–two friends who don’t have children–and I think they thought I was joking when we sort of encouraged them to go home by 8pm because I wanted to go to bed. As we waved goodbye and they left to go out someplace else, my husband and I rushed to throw on pajamas and dive into bed. I thought how odd it seemed that people do things at night time.

There’s a whole world out there of people who leave their house after dark and function in the world after 8pm! People even go shopping at night time. Our friends left our house and I felt a flicker of hope that soon, I will be back out there doing things at night time. It will happen.

I just wish my husband were lactating to help take the edge off my exhaustion sometimes.

Did you wind up with a troublesome sleeper? Leave us a comment to share your favorite coping mantra.

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