It’s amazing how the amount of sleep one has can dramatically affect one’s day. As a parent, we know that our sleep is often determined by our children, and the more children we have, the more interruptions we can count on. I’ve read that for babies, pediatricians consider a full night sleep to be 6 hours. Hooey!
How two people who love to sleep bred three insomniacs, I’ll never know. For the last 6 months we’ve been playing musical beds. It started with Zac sleeping in his own bed in his basement room, Nathan in the crib, and Bethany tucked in safely between Mommy and Daddy. The first move happened when Mommy said enoug
h of baby in the bed. A month and a lot of determination later, Bethany was in her cradle most of the night…when Mommy wasn’t sitting up in a chair nursing her. Then Bethany quickly outgrew the cradle, so the second move was a two parter 1) put the toddler bed in Nathan’s room and have him nap in it instead of the crib, and 2) put a portable crib in our room for Bethany until we could move Nathan out of the crib for good. Sometimes Nathan in the toddler bed worked, and sometimes he was more interested in running around the room, which makes for long afternoons and a crabby 2 year old. Bethany was safer in the portable crib, but she was really too big for it too. Third move…toddler bed back in the basement with no toddler in it. Then last week Kristy stayed with us. Nathan decided she was his new best friend, so he wanted to sleep in his toddler bed in the basement with Zac and Auntie Kristy. It worked! He hasn’t been back to his crib since, but it has taken Daddy sleeping in the basement in the wee small hours of the morning. Finally, we moved Bethany to the crib. After some jump starting…magic happened. Last night (Wednesday night) Zac and Nathan slept all night, by themselves in their basement room, and Bethany slept ALL NIGHT in her crib. I’m not talking about the 6 hours “all night.” I’m talking 11.5 hours! The next thing Alan and I knew, it was 5:00 a.m., and nobody had stirred. I checked on sleeping beauty, but she was deeply asleep on her belly, and she had obviously rolled all over the crib. Thank you to all the angels that helped us through the night. Here is hoping for many more nights of peace.
h of baby in the bed. A month and a lot of determination later, Bethany was in her cradle most of the night…when Mommy wasn’t sitting up in a chair nursing her. Then Bethany quickly outgrew the cradle, so the second move was a two parter 1) put the toddler bed in Nathan’s room and have him nap in it instead of the crib, and 2) put a portable crib in our room for Bethany until we could move Nathan out of the crib for good. Sometimes Nathan in the toddler bed worked, and sometimes he was more interested in running around the room, which makes for long afternoons and a crabby 2 year old. Bethany was safer in the portable crib, but she was really too big for it too. Third move…toddler bed back in the basement with no toddler in it. Then last week Kristy stayed with us. Nathan decided she was his new best friend, so he wanted to sleep in his toddler bed in the basement with Zac and Auntie Kristy. It worked! He hasn’t been back to his crib since, but it has taken Daddy sleeping in the basement in the wee small hours of the morning. Finally, we moved Bethany to the crib. After some jump starting…magic happened. Last night (Wednesday night) Zac and Nathan slept all night, by themselves in their basement room, and Bethany slept ALL NIGHT in her crib. I’m not talking about the 6 hours “all night.” I’m talking 11.5 hours! The next thing Alan and I knew, it was 5:00 a.m., and nobody had stirred. I checked on sleeping beauty, but she was deeply asleep on her belly, and she had obviously rolled all over the crib. Thank you to all the angels that helped us through the night. Here is hoping for many more nights of peace.
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