The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Kudos to you parents of 3, 4 or more children. I am honestly not sure how you do it! Lately nights have been wearing this momma out and can be classified into one of three categories:

1. The Good (extremely rare occurrence): Tyler goes to bed at 7:00. KK goes to bed at 8:00. Tyler wakes up to nurse around 10:00 or 11:00 pm. He doesn’t wake up again till 7:00 and neither does Katelynn. I think this scenario has happened maybe twice in the past three months.

2. The Bad (the norm): Tyler goes to bed at 7:00. KK goes to bed at 8:00. Tyler wakes up to nurse around 10:00 or 11:00 pm. He wakes up again at 2:00 am or so needing a diaper change and pacifier re-insertion. He wakes up again around 4:00 or 5:00 am; at this point I might get away with pacifier re-insertion but more likely I will just pick him up and put him in bed with us till 7:00.

3. The Ugly (not as rare as I would like): Tyler goes to bed at 7:30. KK goes to bed at 8:30 or 9:00. Tyler wakes up to nurse around 10:00 or 11:00 pm. He wakes up again at 2:00 am, 3:00 am, 4:00 am, etc. Sometimes a diaper change/ pacifier re-insertion does the trick. Sometimes he apparently doesn’t know what he needs and keeps me up with crying for over 2 hours till I break down and bring him into bed. Katelynn makes an appearance somewhere in between (never a the same time – always another sleep interruption!) and lays on our floor in a sleeping bag. These “ugly” nights feel like a constant interruption of REM sleep – awakenings from intense dreams and a very groggy feeling. And I start my day in a state of extreme sleep deprivation.

I know this is a phase and things should be much better as Tyler develops a little more. He does not do nights as well as his sister did! I often find myself praying, asking God to lead me in the right direction as to how to “sleep train” him – I feel like I am just in survival mode and there doesn’t always seem to be a clear “right choice”! His sweet smile in the mornings, along with the knowledge that he will only be a sweet innocent baby for such a short time, helps to keep me going.