have i mentioned before that i firmly believe our children are slowly trying to kill us through sleep deprivation? they must plot and plan while they're playing or something. i imagine the conversation goes something like this:
diesel: so what's the plan tonight, lu?
lula: hmmm... well, last night i got up and yelled for daddy at midnight. and then you cried from 3:30-4am until they finally fed you. you did a good job of crying after they fed you and changed your diaper though. nice work! they had no idea what was going on!
diesel: that was on the fly!
lula: and i love how you always wake up and start crying at 5:25am. they'll have to keep getting up earlier and earlier!
diesel: thanks! that really seems to annoy dad!
lula: so tonight... why don't you cry around 11pm, just as they're getting into a deep sleep. cry intermittenly to throw them off.
diesel: huh?
lula: you know, cry for a minute. then stop for a couple of minutes. then cry, then stop. that way they'll keep thinking you're going back to sleep. they'll fall back to sleep too, and then you'll wake them back up. this really exhausts them!
diesel: nice one! what are you going to do?
lula: i'll go up to their room and stand over them until they wake up. this really freaks them out. then one of them has to carry me back downstairs to my room. this always wakes them up and then they have trouble going back to sleep for a while.
diesel: doesn't this all seem just a little too cruel?
lula: what? of course not! remember, we are trying to get rid of them so we can eat all of the easter candy at once!
diesel: right, right. eye on the prize!
So sorry that this is happening. If they are waking up and being rewarded in any way (food, being carried back to bed, coversation) it will continue for a long time. Ellie was doing this to us and I read up on it and found info that I consistently use and it works. By 1 year old, the girls were fed dinner when we would eat (6pm) and then their next meal was breakfast at 9am the following morning, eliminating "night" feeding will help you tremendously.
Posted by: Grace | April 24, 2012 at 10:59 PM
Thats the weird thing with Lula, Grace. We never reward her and put her straight back in bed, but she still gets up. We cant figure it out! Shes been doing better lately. Weve been leaving her night light on all night and that seems to help. And with D... letting him cry it out is the worst experience ever! Hell literally cry for 1 1/2 hours. We know, because weve tried it! But he goes through phases. He was doing great, sleeping all night long. And then he got a shot! Now hes all messed up again. This too shall pass, right?
Posted by: Sarah Jane | April 25, 2012 at 09:14 AM
Laughing out loud!!! This is hilarious.
Posted by: Evie | April 26, 2012 at 12:46 AM