Sleep 101

Sleep 101

I seriously wish I had taken that course! If only I knew then what I know now. Shouldn’t that be the motto of all mothers?

One of my other New Year’s resolutions is to get my kids out of my bed and sleeping in their own through the night. This is partly driven by years of sleep deprivation, bags under my eyes and pure desire to share my bed with David, but it’s mostly because I am beginning to understand the importance of a REAL night’s sleep. It’s actually equally exhausting for your child’s sleep to be interrupted as it is for you. Our nighttime routine has required both David and me to participate. David takes Shaya, I take Rain and when she is asleep I move on to my older girls beds. Having 4 kids to put to bed for one exhausted Mom is not easy, thankfully I haven’t had to do it alone. 

Those that know me know that I have embraced the family bed, and that I have failed at sleep training ALL my kids! It took my oldest girls 5 years to be comfortable sleeping alone and I’m not sure comfortable is an accurate adverb. They manage, but it has never been easy.  I just didn’t breed sleepers, dammit!

My confession is that I actually love sleeping with my kids, but there are too many of them now, and I am totally desperate for an uninterrupted night’s sleep.

So here’s my goal; I’m putting it in paper and sharing it so it may become my reality.

I want to limit my nighttime routine to one hour for all 4 kids. I want to put them all to bed in their own rooms and have them stay in their own beds till morning. One book each for my little ones, a short cuddle and lights out.  My big girls are easy now, but they still need their mommy time at night, and it’s important to me too.

Tonight I explained the new plan to Rain, she agreed, but she was also exhausted from not napping today. Much to my surprise, she fell asleep before I even got to the good part of The Little Mermaid, lucky me! David finished Shaya’s story and we put him in his crib.  First time btw, he usually goes down in our bed and we transfer him to his crib after.  He only lasts 5 hours or so in their until he is crying, “Mama!” and one of us goes running in to his room to bring him back to ours. This goes on every night! Rain tiptoes into our room on her own, like a quiet little mouse, and I wake up with her in my arms.

This may seem trivial to some, but to many this is a MAJOR issue. David and I were so tired tonight; we could barely read the bedtime stories. After Rain fell asleep in her own bed and then I got Shaya to sleep in his crib for the first time ever, I was so excited that I haven’t been able to sleep at all.  Oye, the story of my life…LOL!