Monday, March 30, 2009

Help

On Saturday night we attended a fabulous party, hosted by fabulous people, and, as a result, put our kids to be at the fabulous time of 8:30 PM.

Now, like most parents, we foolishly assume that by putting the little ones to bed later, they'll sleep later.

Joseph woke up Sunday morning at 4:50.

And that's just not crying, wimpering, he'll put himself back to sleep stuff.

He laughed as he called out "Mama, Dada!"

Best to call out both names to increase the likelihood of one or both of us coming to get him, which we do because, let's face it, we certainly don't want to kids wide awake before 5 AM.

It worked. O "slept in" until 5:30.

What is going on here???????

I think I finally have to do what I've been dreading with my little sugar bear: the naptime hibernations might need to be interrupted.

He's been averaging 3.5-4 hour naps....and since you never wake a baby, I haven't.

But now, I think I have to.

Any thoughts from anyone with a similar experience?

Seriously, it's awful.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

We never let Logan nap longer than 3 hours because he would either stay up way too late or get up way too ealier in the morning. Have you tried an earlier bedtime??

Kristine

One Maid A' Milking said...

We have played around with the bedtime, but nothing seems to matter. What I think it comes down to is the fact that, during a pretty restless growth spurt, he got used to catching up on sleep during the day and has never readjusted. The answer is that I have to do just what you said and not let him sleep more than three hours.
I also think I need to put him down earlier for naps since his usual 12:30 time puts him that much closer to bedtime. That's tricky because we have to work around O's school schedule, making an earlier naptime really difficult.

Needless to say, today will begin the new sleep interruptus experiment....and probably a grumpy afternoon.

Anonymous said...

It sucks believe me...I love the long naptime but I hate the early mornings more just as you do! Not that I am anywhere close to an expert but for some reason the 3 hour limit seems to do the trick for us. Like your kids Logan is like clockwork when it comes to morning rising no matter what time you put him to bed!

Kristine

Julie Weaver said...

You know, I never believed in "never wake a baby". 2-2.5 tops for naps, unless they're sick or something...and the dreaded, let him cry and fuss until closer to 6:00 a.m. might be around the corner. Explain to Olivia that it's just too early to get out of bed and she might get in trouble if she does before 6:00, even if she hears Joseph crying. Joseph will soon fall in line after a few heartbreaking mornings. If you do choose do get him that early, there should be no positive reinforcement, like breakfast until a more appropriate time...after 6:00.

That's my horrible opinion...turn off the baby monitor and stuff cotton in your ears.

Discloser...I'm no expert.
xoxo
J

Amy M. said...

It so not even close to the worst thing that could to anyone, but by God when it is happening it is blood boiling, tantrum throwing, my whole day is ruined because of you, Patrick, infuriating. I had the same problem on both ends of the day. Most recently, thank you "Spring Ahead" it has been a wide-awake Patrick until at least 10:00pm. He would sleep until 7:30, which about when Brendan wakes up, so it is probably not as bad as pre-dawn situation you are experiencing. However, it sucked. A combination of three things have worked for me:
1. Nap-time used to be 12:30/-3:30/4. It has gradually been moved up to 11:30/12.
2. 2.5 hour maximum
3. Aluminum foil taped to his windows, under the plantation shutters that are already there. It blacks it out totally...I mean TOTALLY.
PS Brendan woke up at 7am, napped from 1-5 everyday, and went back to bed at 8:30 every night when he was Patrick's age. I had no idea that babies did otherwise, until baby #2.