Before we had our 1st born, Luke, I had a bunch of preconceived ideas about sleep. Not mine. HIS. I knew that I liked my sleep (a lot), and I wanted to keep getting as much as possible even after I entered the new unchartered territory of motherhood.
Now some of you may be thinking, this girl needs a reality check. But here’s the thing. Luke turned out to be a really good sleeper and I thought it had everything to do with the books, magazines, and googling that Kevin and I did prior to his arrival.
It wasn’t until we had Charlie that I realized Luke’s sleep had nothing to do with me. He was just a sleeper and Charlie clearly was not. And unfortunately when baby #3, Jack, arrived 17 months later, he wasn’t a good sleeper either. I was desperate.
It was around this time that musical beds began. A typical night went like this:
-Luke in his bed (that was the only constant).
-Charlie in his crib. But at some point, he’d end up in bed with us.
-Jack in the co-sleeper.
-Kevin in our bed
-Me??? Oh, I was on the couch. And that’s where I've been since (gasp!). The kids all have their own beds now. Heck, we even have an extra bed in one room. But, on most nights, I still end up on the couch at some point.
The couch is neutral.
I don’t wake anyone up when I go to various rooms during the night for drinks, bathroom breaks, or nightmare patrol. There are mornings when I don’t even know where I am when I wake up because it changes so often…the couch, my bed, or one of the kids’ beds.
I know some of you must be saying, “just get those kids in their own beds and out yours!”
Yes, I know. That was my plan. But then I think back to when I was little. I was the 3rd kid. My parents were beat by the time I came around! When I went to their room to sleep, they were hard-core and brought me back to my room, put on the closet light, checked under the bed, and reassured me that I was fine.
I don't need therapy over it. I'm fine. Really.
Still fearful, I would cautiously tip toe into my big brother’s room where he’d throw me a pillow and make me sleep on the floor. It didn’t help much as I was cold and terrified of the freaky “Chucky” poster on his wall which just made matters worse.
My last option was to walk all the way downstairs to my older sister's room. I knew she’s let me sleep in her bed with her, but making it down the dark staircase and hallway was enough for me to reconsider the floor and Chucky.
For now my kids are welcome in our bed. Really, it is just Charlie. The others just need me in their beds occasionally. It won’t be this way forever even though it feels that way at times. Before I know it, I will miss that warm little body sleeping horizontally next to me. So I’ll live with the toes digging into my back, climbing up and down the bunk bed, and sleeping on the couch for now.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my sleep, but beggars can’t be choosers. Especially when you have kids.
3 comments:
This is my current life story and so it makes me feel so much better that it is someone else's too.
Except ours did not start until William learned how to climb out of his crib at 18 months.
Then Lilly was born and William somehow always ended up with us or one of us in his bed. When Lilly could climb out of her bed, all bets were off.
James has come to our room exactly ONCE in 6.5 years to say he had a nightmare and would someone sleep with him.
Lilly and/or William are in our room almost every night.
And we, too, sometimes end up sleeping in 3 or 4 different beds in one night. It is insane.
And I swore I'd NEVER do this.
Isn't it funny the things you think before you have kids.
Love from,
Greta
Hillarious and soo true! Our 11 month old ends up in our bed halfway thru the night and still doesn't sleep the whole night. Most nights husband ends up in the guest room. Can't remember the last night I slept all thru the night. Haha. I never knew I could live with such little sleep before I had a baby.
Hah! I remember musical beds. I didn't care what bed I was in as long as I could sleep. At one point we had Russell in bed with us and Kevin and Phillip in sleeping bags on the floor. They sleep in their own beds now!
Post a Comment