A few months ago someone sent me this really funny spoof on a children' book, called "Go The Fuck To Sleep." You can Google it and read it online. Well, I thought it was really funny! Those that find it offensive, probably don't have a sense of humor or have kids. You can read it or there's a narration by the actor, Samuel L. Jackson, which makes the experience of the story even better. This is Jackson reprising the character he portrayed so brilliantly in the movie, "Pulp Fiction." You can describe it as "Pulp Fiction" meets "Goldilocks and the Three Bears."
I mention this book, because what parent who has a child between the ages of birth and 3 (maybe 4) hasn't experienced a sleepless night here and there or maybe like me, it went on for the first 15 and half months of Sophia' life, E-V-E-R-Y S-I-N-G-L-E DAY! There were plenty of moments where my husband and I were ready to jump out the window, or, yes that.... I'm not ashamed to admit it and I know you know what I'm talking about because many of you parents out there have felt that way too. You're just too embarrassed to be that brutally honest. That's okay. I felt badly at first but then I just realized, it's a feeling and this too shall pass. And it did for the most part. Sophia started to sleep thru the night at about 16 months.
As I mentioned in another blog about the 550 square foot apartment that I live in that has a tiny bedroom, our sleeping arrangements have not been not ideal. The only way we got Sophia to sleep through the night was to buy a futon and I would sleep with her. Hubby sleeps in the couch. Opinions are like "A-*%!@!'s" and everyone has one, so if it meant sleeping next to my child so everyone could function, then so be it. No judgements please! Raising a child is like an Exercise and Diet Program. There is no one size fits all and you really have to find your own way because kids are all different and mine is VERY DIFFERENT.
After reading thru my blog, and if you haven't, I'll say it again; My daughter, Sophia has Sensory Processing Issues that affect her nervous system and so she processes many experiences slower or it takes her longer to get comfortable with something. So in the case with sleep, she was never a self soother and needs a lot of comfort and physical contact and that's why co-sleeping with her has worked. We tried crying it out twice. All the so called experts were so sure it would work. Even our Pediatrician had the gall to suggest leaving our then 6 month old in the crib with the door closed and if she threw up, to leave her there in her own gunk till it was morning! My passionate Italian husband wanted to clock the Doc after hearing that, and I don't blame him.
So now, we are at the age of two years and two months old, and sleeping thru the night is still pretty good, but now that Sophia has the verbal skills and imagination of a child at least another year or year and half older we are dealing with some new issues around sleep. She loves dinosaurs and creating stories with her massive collection of stuffed animals. Mama and Papa are recruited morning, noon and night to participate in Sophia' elaborate plays of chasing and being chased by the scary dinosaurs. It has been at night where this has become a challenge to falling asleep. I think we spoil her because we really get into the stories with great detail and what child wouldn't want to keep playing if that was the case.
Our sleep routine begins around 8:15 and I start preparing the Murphy bed with all the giant pillows, turn down the soft down comforter, pick out two stories and warm up two bottles of formula (NOTE: we just had Sophia evaluated by a Pediatric ENT to check if there were any anatomical abnormalities causing her feeding and drinking issues and she's fine. Now we know it's all sensory and behavioral. She receives feeding therapy once a week and will be going to the NYU hospital Swallowing clinic. Our goal is to help her eat normally, self feed and drink before she turns 3 next year). Usually, that all works pretty well and after her story, she drinks her bottle and then falls asleep. NOT LATELY though. It could be drinking at night has been causing her to get bloated and gassy and she gets pains which cause her to get upset. We then have to comfort her with more dinosaur games until she feels better and at which point she is on her second wind and Mama and Papa are exhausted. I've actually found myself nodding out in the middle of reading her a bedtime story.
I get up around 5 or 5:30 am during the week, and so somewhere between 8:30 and 9:30 PM, I am ready to go to sleep. I usually pass out next to Sophia in my clothes, only to get up around midnight or 1 am, change into my PJ's and wash up. So much for having any alone time with my squeeze or watching a movie. I can't even remember when the last time I watched a DVD.
All I can say about this whole bedtime craziness is that I look forward to the day when Sophia is sleeping in her own bed, in her own room and I can have some normalcy back. In the words of Sophia when we ask her when she's going to try eating some pizza, "One Day....."
I mention this book, because what parent who has a child between the ages of birth and 3 (maybe 4) hasn't experienced a sleepless night here and there or maybe like me, it went on for the first 15 and half months of Sophia' life, E-V-E-R-Y S-I-N-G-L-E DAY! There were plenty of moments where my husband and I were ready to jump out the window, or, yes that.... I'm not ashamed to admit it and I know you know what I'm talking about because many of you parents out there have felt that way too. You're just too embarrassed to be that brutally honest. That's okay. I felt badly at first but then I just realized, it's a feeling and this too shall pass. And it did for the most part. Sophia started to sleep thru the night at about 16 months.
As I mentioned in another blog about the 550 square foot apartment that I live in that has a tiny bedroom, our sleeping arrangements have not been not ideal. The only way we got Sophia to sleep through the night was to buy a futon and I would sleep with her. Hubby sleeps in the couch. Opinions are like "A-*%!@!'s" and everyone has one, so if it meant sleeping next to my child so everyone could function, then so be it. No judgements please! Raising a child is like an Exercise and Diet Program. There is no one size fits all and you really have to find your own way because kids are all different and mine is VERY DIFFERENT.
After reading thru my blog, and if you haven't, I'll say it again; My daughter, Sophia has Sensory Processing Issues that affect her nervous system and so she processes many experiences slower or it takes her longer to get comfortable with something. So in the case with sleep, she was never a self soother and needs a lot of comfort and physical contact and that's why co-sleeping with her has worked. We tried crying it out twice. All the so called experts were so sure it would work. Even our Pediatrician had the gall to suggest leaving our then 6 month old in the crib with the door closed and if she threw up, to leave her there in her own gunk till it was morning! My passionate Italian husband wanted to clock the Doc after hearing that, and I don't blame him.
So now, we are at the age of two years and two months old, and sleeping thru the night is still pretty good, but now that Sophia has the verbal skills and imagination of a child at least another year or year and half older we are dealing with some new issues around sleep. She loves dinosaurs and creating stories with her massive collection of stuffed animals. Mama and Papa are recruited morning, noon and night to participate in Sophia' elaborate plays of chasing and being chased by the scary dinosaurs. It has been at night where this has become a challenge to falling asleep. I think we spoil her because we really get into the stories with great detail and what child wouldn't want to keep playing if that was the case.
Our sleep routine begins around 8:15 and I start preparing the Murphy bed with all the giant pillows, turn down the soft down comforter, pick out two stories and warm up two bottles of formula (NOTE: we just had Sophia evaluated by a Pediatric ENT to check if there were any anatomical abnormalities causing her feeding and drinking issues and she's fine. Now we know it's all sensory and behavioral. She receives feeding therapy once a week and will be going to the NYU hospital Swallowing clinic. Our goal is to help her eat normally, self feed and drink before she turns 3 next year). Usually, that all works pretty well and after her story, she drinks her bottle and then falls asleep. NOT LATELY though. It could be drinking at night has been causing her to get bloated and gassy and she gets pains which cause her to get upset. We then have to comfort her with more dinosaur games until she feels better and at which point she is on her second wind and Mama and Papa are exhausted. I've actually found myself nodding out in the middle of reading her a bedtime story.
I get up around 5 or 5:30 am during the week, and so somewhere between 8:30 and 9:30 PM, I am ready to go to sleep. I usually pass out next to Sophia in my clothes, only to get up around midnight or 1 am, change into my PJ's and wash up. So much for having any alone time with my squeeze or watching a movie. I can't even remember when the last time I watched a DVD.
All I can say about this whole bedtime craziness is that I look forward to the day when Sophia is sleeping in her own bed, in her own room and I can have some normalcy back. In the words of Sophia when we ask her when she's going to try eating some pizza, "One Day....."
