just shoot me

it's 3 a.m. and she's still. awake.  well, no one is sleeping.  we have got to get this sleep shit under control.  tomorrow i'm buying her a new mattress and will finish stripping the bed i bought her on craigslist.  i'll get her soft, pretty sheets and a nice down comforter and lots of pillows.  i'm going to buy me a book on sleep solutions and she's going back in her room one way or another.

Comments

[Julie]

not that you asked for any suggestions but I highly recommend Dr. Jodi Mindell's book "Sleeping Through The Night".

I found that many of the books, you need to start at infancy. It's tough to jump into the sleep stuff in the middle. Dr. Mindell's book you can pick up and put down at will. She also gives you different solutions to different situations - you can pick and choose what will work best for your child.

Plus, she is in charge of sleep studies at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and is very accessible if you have questions. A friend of mine emailed her a question and had a response in 3 hours (with an apology for taking so long to answer).

We used it with Dylan. First night took 45 minutes to get him to sleep, second night took 30 minutes, third night it took 10, fourth night he pushed away his bottle and reached for his crib!

[abebech]

I have no advice. We suck at sleep at Chez Bloom.
We're using the No Cry Sleep Solution, and like the flexibility, though would love a quick fix.
(Discovering the magic of earlier bedtime, though, was worth the price of the book. Turns out she was mostly overtired and I was too desperate to make bedtime less than an hour's production).
Good luck!

[Martina Fahrner]

ok, this sounds cruel etc., but how about a pair of ear plugs for you? Put some toys out for her in her or your room, switch out the lights everywhere else and tell her that you are going to sleep!
Playing alone gets boring very soon...

[mamaloo]

ugh, so sorry. that brings back really bad, bad memories. definitely, sleep for everyone is a priority!!!

[Hope]

Count us among the awake. Maybe we should set up at 3 am mommy chat room? *yawn*

[Briana]

Hey. I have that book mentioned in teh first comment if you'd like to borrow. Save the $ for much needed coffee! :) j/k.

I can drop it by tomorrow after I take Ben to work, k?

Hang in there!

[bek]

We liked heathy sleep habits happy child..... but what ultimatly worked for us was to buy a crib tent. Once he knew he couldn't get out of his bed (he is a climber...maybe Z is not suich a climber) he just gave up. He will talk and sing and play but he will not try and get out.....

Either way, it is hard. So sorry. The worst is just toughing out the first week or so....good luck.

[Jenna]

Dude. I want a down comforter. I'm gonna come over, make your sleeping situation hell and then get myself a down comforter and lots of pillows. Oh, god yes, that sounds fabulous. Be right over.

Sorry hon. No advice here yet. But make sure you figure it out so you can tell me what to do eventually. kthx!

[Margie]

We gave up. Our son slept like a log, but our daughter was, is, and always will be a night owl. We opted for "play quietly and leave your brother alone," and she seemed to find her own schedule that way. However, every month or so she absolutely wanted company, so I'd crawl into her bed and snore, and she'd play around me. When she was more like four or so, I woke up many times with very attractive hair-dos, because she'd put all her hair thingies in my hair while I was sleeping.

I remember how horrible it felt to be that sleep deprived. And not just sleep deprived, the loss of quiet evening time was bad, too. Good luck, I hope things settle down soon.

[Stefania Pomponi Butler/CityMama]

Poor Afrindie fam! I have no advice, just commiseration. Bunny finds her way into our bed every night around 1am (and has since we moved back here, so, we're going on a year)...She refuses to sleep in her bed the entire night. "too lonely." Hope this all sorts itself out soon!

[clementine]

We ferberized our first daughter and discovered that her crying outlasted out strength. Our next child liked her own bed most of the time. We bought a very large bed 7 years ago and figured out that our kids liked having a warm body lying next to them just as much as mom and dad. They don't come in at night any more and we miss them. With our third we already have the cot set up next to our bed. Good luck, whatever solution you find, I am sure it will be the right one for your family.