How do you decipher a toddler?
Our sweet girl seems to be having some set backs. I know they are to be expected but our once great sleeper is having a tough go at the moment. I don't know what to do to make it all better and I have a feeling that when I go back to work it is just going to get worse. It is the worst feeling when you know your baby is not happy and you don't know what to do to fix it.
The last couple of nights have been kind of rocky and Chloe has wanted a bottle at both 11pm and 4am (she would have gotten up for the day at 4 if we had let her). Tonight we kept her up a little later and fed her a big dinner of oatmeal, squash and apple/banana puree. What everyone craves late at night right? We thought with a full tummy she would sleep better. After she had been silent for an hour I thought it was safe to check on her since I normally do this every night without a problem. Oh boy was I wrong, she was still awake or had woken back up and that was the first upset. We got her back to sleep, watched a little TV then headed to bed. I turned off my light after reading for a few and I heard a whimper. OH NO!
OH YES! The whimper turned into a cry and I could not ignore it. So I got up to give her some comfort. She was fine in my arms but the moment I tried to set her down it set her off again. I decided to try a bottle, no luck, she just wanted to be held. So I tried bringing her to bed with us. That is not going to happen she just would not settle down at all. Jim needs some rest because he has a particularly rambunctious set of 1st graders tomorrow so I got up and decided that maybe we could sleep together in the rocker.
That started to work until Chloe decided it was time to get up and play. There are too many little lights and noises in the front room. I was still trying to get her settled when she head-butted me, hard, in mouth and I split my lip with a tooth. It was not intentional but being that it was now very close to midnight and it really hurt, I started crying. I decided to try the bed again and amazingly she laid down and fell asleep. Unfortunately I am now wide awake, so I figures I might as well blog the whole experience.
I am getting more and more worried about going back to work as little things like this creep up. I know she will have the best care ever while I am gone but I just hope that she understands that I will always come back and I love her very much. I think she may be sensing some of my anxiety too, she seems to be extra clingy as well the last couple of days. I wish I knew exactly what she was thinking and help her, but so far it seems to be more of a guessing game. I don't think that was in the manual either. I think someone needs to rewrite the Chloe guide :)
I guess it is time for me to try bed again since it is almost 1am.
The last couple of nights have been kind of rocky and Chloe has wanted a bottle at both 11pm and 4am (she would have gotten up for the day at 4 if we had let her). Tonight we kept her up a little later and fed her a big dinner of oatmeal, squash and apple/banana puree. What everyone craves late at night right? We thought with a full tummy she would sleep better. After she had been silent for an hour I thought it was safe to check on her since I normally do this every night without a problem. Oh boy was I wrong, she was still awake or had woken back up and that was the first upset. We got her back to sleep, watched a little TV then headed to bed. I turned off my light after reading for a few and I heard a whimper. OH NO!
OH YES! The whimper turned into a cry and I could not ignore it. So I got up to give her some comfort. She was fine in my arms but the moment I tried to set her down it set her off again. I decided to try a bottle, no luck, she just wanted to be held. So I tried bringing her to bed with us. That is not going to happen she just would not settle down at all. Jim needs some rest because he has a particularly rambunctious set of 1st graders tomorrow so I got up and decided that maybe we could sleep together in the rocker.
That started to work until Chloe decided it was time to get up and play. There are too many little lights and noises in the front room. I was still trying to get her settled when she head-butted me, hard, in mouth and I split my lip with a tooth. It was not intentional but being that it was now very close to midnight and it really hurt, I started crying. I decided to try the bed again and amazingly she laid down and fell asleep. Unfortunately I am now wide awake, so I figures I might as well blog the whole experience.
I am getting more and more worried about going back to work as little things like this creep up. I know she will have the best care ever while I am gone but I just hope that she understands that I will always come back and I love her very much. I think she may be sensing some of my anxiety too, she seems to be extra clingy as well the last couple of days. I wish I knew exactly what she was thinking and help her, but so far it seems to be more of a guessing game. I don't think that was in the manual either. I think someone needs to rewrite the Chloe guide :)
I guess it is time for me to try bed again since it is almost 1am.
Comments
Hopefully you get a nap soon!
Aunt Carol
That is my 10 cents worth(inflation you know)
Hugs from Kylie Mei's Momma in MT.
~Susan
Hui Mei a Guixi sweetie
Gotcha day 8/04
I guess I'll echo what a couple others have said: routine in general - and at bedtime in particular - can be so reassuring. My daughter always has a small snack, puts on her jammies, brushes her teeth, reads a story with daddy, and then prays with us before going to sleep. We do that exact routine every night, even if it's late because it helps her settle down and sleep.
You're doing great at this parenting thing. I pray that both of you will have a smooth transition back to work :)
Maddie would sometimes develop sleep issues and at first it seemed like it was out of the blue, but we would find out the reason later.
There were times she was growing and extra hungry, so we fed her more before bed, but it only made her uncomfortably full. Sometimes it was because of our stress level, sometimes she was cutting teeth. She also went through a few times where her stomach was upset because of the teeth coming in...Gripe Water (sold at Walgreens) helped ease that though.
For now, hang in there and keep the coffee close.