I am so tired. Very, very tired. There are two reasons for this:
1.) Last night as I was getting ready to go to sleep, I flipped to MSNBC which had the live coverage of 9/11 that was going on that morning. Hubby and I couldn’t stop watching it. It went past my bedtime.
2.) The main reason I’m so tired is because of my daughter. Every night, in the dead middle of the night, she wakes up and either cries from her room or comes into my room and wakes me up. She claims she is scared. Of what, she won’t tell me…she just says she’s scared. She did it twice last night. So I walk her back to her room and put her back to bed. But she has woken me out of a very, very deep sleep. And I’m the person that has the alarm clock going off 45 minutes before I actually have to wake up because I just don’t work well without slowly waking up.
If anyone has any advice on this, please feel free to pass it along. I feel like I’m doing everything right…she goes to sleep in her own bed, I always take her back to her bed, etc. And she’s truly scared…she’s crying real tears, not just whining. And her room has a very good nightlight, she has a little thing that projects princesses on the ceiling, and her door is left open.
She’s always been a problem-sleeper – as a baby we would have to hold her for her to go to sleep. We tried the cry-it-out thing with her for 3 nights and each night she cried for 3 hours straight with no sign of giving up. I’m.just.so.tired.
Thankfully our son is a much better sleeper!
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15 comments:
Try taking out the princess night light and going to a blue night light. The blue acts like the moon and might help with that. I don't know how long this has been going on but with my girls it was a phase and just like phase she will get through it.
Maybe it is something she is watching on TV?
Oooh, that sounds like a good idea!
We try really hard to seriously limit her on what she watches on TV...she watches Mr. Rogers, Barney, Toy Story, etc. However, I'm not naive and I know that 1.) some kids' shows can still scare her and 2.) sometimes she sees things she's not supposed to (commercials, at someone else's house, etc.). So it could be something on TV, even though we try so hard to limit what she watches.
What about hanging one of those hoop canopies that she could hang over her bed and pull the sides around so that she's cocooned? Also, create a "nest" in her bed with pillows and stuffed animals.
Finally, I'd suggest working it out with your husband to take turns being on call during the night. Then tell your daughter who she needs to go to. At the very least, it will give you a break.
Maybe try putting her to bed earlier? I know you've mentioned she tends to stay up late. Maybe she needs more sleep to sleep more soundly?
My daughter is five & did this for a week right after she started school. Sigh. Any sounds, even rain, she'll come flying into our room. We have a queen, but still, with a flopping 5 y.o. space is limited, and we get kicked a lot.
I bought an under-the-bed light, and we keep it in our room, under my hope chest. That way when she's scared, she can easily find us during the night. However, we now have a rule that if you are scared, it's OK to tell mom or dad, however, you can sleep in the floor beside our bed in the sleeping bag.
She doesn't like that idea quite as well, and for now we have all gotten back to sleeping better. Oh, one other thought - get a plastic spray bottle and fill with water. Squirt a few times before bed, tell her it's monster spray, to keep the bad thoughts & scary stuff away. It works well. :)
Hayden has also been a problem sleeper all her life. Still, to this day, she's up almost once nightly... either to pee or her leg hurts or something. She's only done the "I'm scared" thing once or twice though. Typically, she says she had a bad dream.
You are doing what you need to do. Consistency is the key. Hopefully, this is a stage that she will outgrow. I would try the more sleep idea and I would try to not let her watch any tv in the evenings unless it's somethign very light hearted like Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or something.
Good luck and I feel your pain.
You're consistent with things and that's what she needs. The comments above have good suggestions....
Hope she starts sleeping so YOU can sleep :)
I agree with what everyone has said...try switching night lights and Ashley has that canopy thing over her bed.
I am guessing this is just a stage and she will out grow it. And yes, it totally sucks. I am with you!
Barney? You let your daughter watch Barney? Barney scares the heck out of me! :)
I think it must be her age. Haley just turned 4 and just now sometimes gets up in the middle of the night and tries to get in our bed. I don't have any advice on what to do other than what you are already doing.
I don't have any advice, just lots of sympathy.
Lilly hates, and I mean hates sleeping in her own bed. She cries and cries and says she is scared because it is too dark (even with 3 nightlights). So we let her sleep in our bed, I know I am bad. Trust me I don't like it, but it is something that we can't seem to break. For us we are planning on getting her a big bed when we move (she has a toddler one now) and hope that helps. I don't know though.
Hope you get some rest soon.
I feel for you. We are having some sleep issues going on here too. Last night my 7 year old came into my room just after midnight (I go to sleep at 10, so that feels like the middle of the night to me!) and freaked me out by coming into my bedroom right next to me and then saying "mommy". It took me forever to get back to sleep with my heart racing. He was scared too. Of nothing he could describe. Good luck! My son has always been a problem sleeper too...both my boys have been. Someday they will grow out of this, right?
i've decided that we should have "monster spray" to spray around the room. you know, like water in the spray bottle with a pic of a monster on it. just a thought. it could be a fear she can't express. ie monster.
damn it all. someone else had the monster spray idea before me. son of a.. and here i thought i was clever!!!!!
Oh wow it's been years since my kids were little, so don't what to tell you.
Do you think it's something from daycare that's scaring her? Worth checking into won't hurt.
All the above suggestions are great too. All you can do is try and hope one works for you.
Sleep is so important and I am like you so hate getting out of bed in the morning.
I only wish I had some "wise words" to help with your daughters sleep but dang this ol lady can't come up with any today !!! Bummer and bad me huh?
You do have alot of suggestions and dang I live the "monster spray" one!!!
Good luck
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