No Sleep....

[severine]

Alright, you guys have me beat on consecutive hours awake, that's for sure. But this has been 20 weeks of sleep deprivation and it's wearing on me. I have no idea how much sleep I get every night... maybe 3-4 hrs of very interrupted sleep? I swear, the kid won't sleep more than an hour and he's up again looking to eat. All night long. Though last night (this morning) he apparently just wanted to party. I really didn't want to be invited.

He's still young for sleep training... We used the Sleep Lady's methods with our daughter at 6 months and she's been a mostly great sleeper ever since. At night, anyway. 6 more weeks until we can try that with the boy. I'm fairly AP so I would never just let my kids cry. Not to mention that it's just too grating on the nerves to do that anyway.

ccskier-Your wife must be bionic woman or something! Wowsers! I have a friend who is a CNA and she works one 12hr overnight shift per week.... no sleep before or after and she has 3 kids (the youngest is 9 months). I was always in awe of her but your wife now takes the cake! I hope you let that poor girl sleep sometimes!!

Well, today required a good long ride in the car. I needed a change of scenery and had errands to run. The boy doesn't like the car much, though, so there was some unpleasantness during parts of the ride. And of course, any time I want to eat. I swear they have radar for that stuff. At least when I worked full time outside the house, I could eat and pee in peace. In any case, I caved and had coffee. Now I probably won't be able to sleep even if he does. Though it's not looking good for tonight. He's already awakened 4 times since I put him down at 8PM. :angry: At least I wore out his sister at the playground...

GSS-Yup, get a goldfish. Though the rewards will never be as bountiful as they are with children. A lot of work, but a lot more wonderful once you get through the crappy stuff.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Alright, you guys have me beat on consecutive hours awake, that's for sure. But this has been 20 weeks of sleep deprivation and it's wearing on me. I have no idea how much sleep I get every night... maybe 3-4 hrs of very interrupted sleep? I swear, the kid won't sleep more than an hour and he's up again looking to eat. All night long. Though last night (this morning) he apparently just wanted to party. I really didn't want to be invited.

He's still young for sleep training... We used the Sleep Lady's methods with our daughter at 6 months and she's been a mostly great sleeper ever since. At night, anyway. 6 more weeks until we can try that with the boy. I'm fairly AP so I would never just let my kids cry. Not to mention that it's just too grating on the nerves to do that anyway.

ccskier-Your wife must be bionic woman or something! Wowsers! I have a friend who is a CNA and she works one 12hr overnight shift per week.... no sleep before or after and she has 3 kids (the youngest is 9 months). I was always in awe of her but your wife now takes the cake! I hope you let that poor girl sleep sometimes!!

Well, today required a good long ride in the car. I needed a change of scenery and had errands to run. The boy doesn't like the car much, though, so there was some unpleasantness during parts of the ride. And of course, any time I want to eat. I swear they have radar for that stuff. At least when I worked full time outside the house, I could eat and pee in peace. In any case, I caved and had coffee. Now I probably won't be able to sleep even if he does. Though it's not looking good for tonight. He's already awakened 4 times since I put him down at 8PM. :angry: At least I wore out his sister at the playground...

GSS-Yup, get a goldfish. Though the rewards will never be as bountiful as they are with children. A lot of work, but a lot more wonderful once you get through the crappy stuff.

Severine I appreciate hearing about the sacrifices of raising a child(well two in your case). My buddy whose 27 recently got his girlfriend pregnant and they're keeping the baby and he's psyched because it will make him grow up. For me doing laundry and paying all the bills and not procrastinating is alot..I've never seen first hand what it takes to raise a child because I was a toddler when my sister was born and the other babies I know are family friends and cousins who I only see for a few hours at a time...I very well could have kids one day..but I have alot more growing up to do first...

 

[Marc]

Every time I talk to someone who has kids about their kids... it makes me not want to have kids. Which is good, because I had already hoped not to have them. All nighters cutting someone out of a car or doing homework towards a new degree.... fine. Changing diapers and bottle feeding...... ah, negative Ghost Rider. Pattern is full.

 

[Marc]

There's another thing I don't get.... having children is somehow a noble sacrifice? The parents wanted the kid right? Is all the driving and getting up at ungodly hours to go skiing a noble sacrifice? I see no difference.

Hell, I can't even get a "noble sacrifice" nod for my involvement in the VFD anymore... most people just seem confused as to why I'd do such a thing.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

There's another thing I don't get.... having children is somehow a noble sacrifice? The parents wanted the kid right? Is all the driving and getting up at ungodly hours to go skiing a noble sacrifice? I see no difference.

Hell, I can't even get a "noble sacrifice" nod for my involvement in the VFD anymore... most people just seem confused as to why I'd do such a thing.

For the commaraderie...just like being on ski patrol...lol...and also the sheep

 

[Greg]

For those that have identified they don't want kids, I say good on ya. For me, having kids has been the most difficult, yet also the most rewarding thing I've ever done. Totally worth all the BS. In fact, changing diapers, bottles, puke, sleep deprivation? All that stuff becomes normal life pretty quickly and is hardly noticeable after a while. The day they first walk or say "da da", or when you can hold a full conversation with them, or teach them to ski are the things you really remember. Anyone without kids simply can't understand.

 

[severine]

Different strokes for different folks.

It really is something you can't understand until you go through it. I'm 12 years older than my youngest brother and while I helped immensely in raising him because my mom went back to work then, it still doesn't compare to having your own. I thought I had a clue... I was WAY wrong!

That said, it's not like this was the plan all along either. As a teenager, I never intended to get married or have kids. People change. Priorities change. And life changes you. Interesting how it all works out.

Yeah, sleep deprivation sucks. But you know what? You move on and you forget. (Otherwise, our species would have extincted itself long ago. ) Greg is right that at the end of the day, you remember the good stuff. It means so much more, even if it's initially very difficult when you're in the trenches.

 

[marcski]

I think I've always wanted to have kids of my own....as long as I can remember. But, until you have them you have no clue how incredibly rewarding and fulfilling it is. I could not picture life without being a father anymore. Granted the first few months are difficult, but once the sleep deprivation is gone, its awesome. Diapers are no big deal at all. This morning when I left the house my daughter said, "Daddy when you get home, can we watch Star Trek together, because, we haven't really watched it in a long time." (She is talking about the original series btw). It's amazing to pass down your interests and to learn to appreciate theirs as they grow. Teaching and taking my daughter skiing last year was one of the most rewarding experiences in my entire life, skiing or otherwise. Sharing one of my life's great passions and seeing her learn and enjoy skiing just as much as me is truly something I will never forget and will hopefully continue to cherish for many many years to come.

Oh, and of course that is her on my avatar taken at Catamount on a gorgeous bluebird spring day. You should have seen her enjoying herself skiing and hanging out on the deck eating lunch that day. Amazing.

 

[MRGisevil]

Severine have you tried guarnana? You can find it in alot of commercial teas or as a suppliment (guaranine). Reduces hunger, relieves fatigue, all that fun stuff, but doesn't leave you with such a bad sense of "the shakes".

 

[JimG.]

No sleep...til Brooklyn!

I'm surprised nobody jumped on that Beastie Boys gimme.

As for dealing with little kids, I find it no different from dealing with adults and it's usually alot easier.

 

[tree_skier]

Try keeping the little bugger up to around 10, feed him and put him down. Also don't play at night if he starts to cry, change, feed and put back in the crib. No TV, music, bright lights etc. He will learn night is for sleeping not playing with mom.

 

[wa-loaf]

You're getting a lot of advice and everyone's experience is different but here's our take and what we've done.

Sleep gets sleep. We are the nap nazi's. Baby's and up to two years need two naps a day and it's not good to mess with that. We've given up a lot of activities we'd like to do during the day to keep it very consistent. The one year old sleeps about 1-2 hours in the morning and another 2-3 in the afternoon. Then goes to bed at 8 and will sleep uninterupted (unless he's sick) until 6:30 - 7 am. Our four year old takes a nap in the afternoon for 2-3 hours too and has the same night time schedule as her brother. This gives my wife a good couple of hours in the morning (4 year old is at preschool) and again in the afternoon to get things done or relax if she needs to. If the nap schedule gets messed up, then the kids are a real mess for a couple days until back on track.

 

[drjeff]

Your sleep deprivation = keep moving

Kids = consistant rest/nap schedule - even if the little bundle of joy/screaming one isn't sleeping just leave them by themself at the same time with the same put down routine everyday, they'll get into the routine soon enough. Hey, if that doesn't work the 'ol teaspoon of benadryl has been known to do the trick from time to time too

 

[Marc]

Your sleep deprivation = keep moving

Kids = consistant rest/nap schedule - even if the little bundle of joy/screaming one isn't sleeping just leave them by themself at the same time with the same put down routine everyday, they'll get into the routine soon enough. Hey, if that doesn't work the 'ol teaspoon of benadryl has been known to do the trick from time to time too

How about Bacardi 151... or better yet, straight up grain alcohol...

 

[severine]

How about Bacardi 151... or better yet, straight up grain alcohol...

...or better yet, lighter fluid. Ouch. I still remember in my dumb youth picking up a bottle of 151 thinking I could make daiquiris with it. Um... no.


I'm surprised nobody else picked up on the "no sleep til Brooklyn"

Sleep begets sleep. Sleep patterns are very irregular in young children and it takes time. They all grow out of it, just need to be patient. Some days I'm more patient than others. We went through this with our daughter, too (though to a lesser extent in several ways, one of which being I worked full time outside the home so I wasn't exposed to the daytime stuff 5/7 of the week). Even now, if she doesn't go to bed early enough, she'll only wake up earlier and be more cranky. Sleep begets sleep.

Thank you all for your concern. I figure that by ski season, at least he should be sleeping better so I'll be able to stay awake enough to ski.