Sleep

I haven't written about sleep issues in a long time.  That is because we haven't had sleep issues in a long time!  The twins have always been good sleepers, and since we stopped dairy in January, Michael has also been sleeping through the night.  For the last 8-9 months, I have only had an occasional middle of the night wake up.  For the last couple of weeks, Miss Eva Rose has been sleeping horrible.

She fights naps, even though she still needs them.  When she doesn't nap, she falls asleep what could be considered either too late or too early, meaning she takes a nap too late which then interferes with her night time sleep or I put her to bed early thinking she will be out for the night and she wakes up too early.  Today I put her and Thomas in for a nap and Thomas fell asleep right away and she is still yelling and crying at the door almost an hour later, although I think she is finally going to sleep now!

 I am hoping that a normal nap will help her sleep better at night.  I hate having her cry it out for a nap, but she needs her nap.  I don't even know if this will make a difference.  I also got laid off and I don't know if that is impacting her sleep.  She seems like she needs to be held, rocked, and/or have her head rubbed, but even then she still fights sleep.  I wish knew why she all of a sudden needs more attention and seems to be having some sort of separation anxiety.   I also wish I knew why she won't go to sleep like she has for the last almost 2 years 9 months.

Any help?
Amy

Sleep

Yes, I know, not another posting about sleep!  As usual, we are having horrible sleeping in this house!  Michael, who will be 3 in March and who has never slept well, is getting better with going to sleep, but continues to be horrible with staying asleep.  We put him to bed, and soon after he gets out and plays in his room.  There are very few toys in there, but he definitely finds things to play with.  We've been letting him play for a short time, and then we go in and put him back in his bed.  For the last couple of days, this has really worked out.  The biggest problem is him sleeping through the night.  We decided, ok I accepted that I need to do CIO (cry it out).  This morning, I can't remember the time, we started CIO at my husband's prompting.  He finally fell asleep and slept on the floor.  I am hoping that with consistency, he will start to go to bed easily and sleep through the night.

The twins, who just turned 2 this past Sunday, have been great sleepers pretty much from the beginning.  Now, Thomas fight going to sleep, but letting him CIO for a short time usually works.  Eva Rose, usually falls asleep quickly, but then has been waking in the middle of the night screaming!  I have been bad with getting her up for a short time, but then I put her back in her crib and let her CIO.  It's not as short as for thomas, but shorter than  for Michael.  I think this is why I have an easier time doing CIO with the twins.  they seem to respond quicker.  Michael can cry for what seems like forever and it kills me.  I have hearing him cry to the point of almost making himself sick. I know I need to do it and i know that i need to be consistent with it.  He's almost 3 and he needs to start sleeping.  I need to start sleeping.

If anyone has suggestions for dealing with CIO in toddlers, I would very much appreciate it.   I know that consistency is key, and that is my goal.  We started CIO this morning and I need to continue it with all 3 kids!  Any other sleep suggestions are very much welcome!

A sleep deprived Amy

Sleep update!

Yay!!!!!!!!!  We have all 3 kids sleeping through the night.  The twins go to bed usually by 7:30 at the latest and Michael is in bed by 8:30 at the latest.  We had a couple of tough nights, but at this point there is limited crying form Michael.  The twins have been going down fine for a long time now.  Michael has been our trying child.  I am finding that this has been my fault.  I feel bad, but I guess that's kind of how it is with your first.  Then the twins came along and like I said in my last post there were all sorts of crazy happenings.  Looking back, I wish I had put Michael on more of a schedule.  I really wasn't ready to do CIO til just now, but maybe I should have done that sooner.  Even at this point, I slowly eased myself into it.  Now, almost a week later, Michael is going to bed, crying for about 5 minutes at the most and putting himself bad into his bed even if he has gotten himself out.  We are not on a totally strict schedule, but we are definitely way more schedules than we ever have been with Michael.  The twins have always been on  a schedule.  The best part is that all 3 kids are going to sleep fairly easily, sleeping through the night and so have I.  I have actually been able to go to bed at 9:30 at the latest for the last couple of nights and I feel so rested.  I have pulled my back and definitely needed to rest.  I am also going to start a new job so getting a good night sleep all around id going to be great.  I know that this is going to continue because I have gone through the CIO phase and know that I can do it and that it works.  I guess that I needed to be ready and maybe even Michael needed to be ready.  I just wish I was ready earlier because I think it has been best for our whole family.

If there is anyone reading this blog who has given me advice on sleeping, thank you and I wish I had taken your advice sooner.  Also thank you for putting up with my constant whining about sleep issues and having me not follow the advice of others who have been there.  If there are people who are dealing with similar issues, CIO is not all that bad.  It was probably one of the toughest things to follow through with, but the outcome has been wonderful.  Also,  having a schedule, at least a schedule that you can follow somewhat is so important.  I realized this after having the twins, but I never really instituted one with Michael.  Again, I am not a fanatic with scheduling, but I do think that having one totally helps.

Amy