Paying my dues…the curse of the perfect sleeper!

For the first 12 months of my darling daughters life, I was the envy of many of my girlfriends’ (those that are mamas). I had many of those perfect dream stories…’oh she’s slept 4-5 hours straight since we left the hospital.’…then at two months ‘she’s sleeping 8 hours. it’s great!’….and when transitioning to the crib ‘bedtime is so easy and she sleeps 12 hours, till like 8am!’…

Basically I had the types of stories that made other mothers want to bitch smack me in their sleep-deprived anger.

Aside from a week stretch at 8 months and the very odd night here and there, Lilly has been a nearly perfect sleeper. She definitely loves her sleep, which is fantastic since we do as well. However, as enjoyable as the first 12 months were, they left my husband and I lacking the tolerance build-up needed for the last month of hell that we have just encountered. We have gone from having a household full of sweet dreams to a reoccurring nightmare of massive fights at bedtime, 12-2 am screaming fits, all which usually result in an almost hyperventilating baby girl.

It all started really one very fateful evening when Lilly and I had a late night throwdown. She had her first real toddler tantrum. Since then she has had very few of what I would call ‘good nights’. And right now my bar for a ‘good night’ is likely a hell of a lot lower then it used to be.

toddler, sleeping through the night, tantrums
By some miracle, we’re both smiling in the morning…

I know a lot of this could simply be growing pains, teething, separation anxiety from starting daycare or just general restlessness, but it’s hard to maintain that rash level of thinking after 2 hours of screaming at 2am. My wonderful (lucky bugger) husband manages to sleep through about 95% of it. So I am left to deal with much of it. There are nights where I seriously think about sleeping on her floor…

So now we’re going on month of shit sleep while balancing motherhood, a very busy marketing career, a provincial political campaign (that I’m trying to find more time for!), an on-the-side financial business my hubby & I are getting licensed for, plus my blogging and my increasingly neglected gym membership.I think I’m even more exhausted after reading that list…

Ideally speaking, would have taken 6 months of shit sleep while I was still on mat leave…

Comments

  1. Laura says

    That sucks Crystal. I spent the beginning of Madi’s pregnancy sleeping on Owens floor. I was way too tired to deal with shinanigans so I just crashed. It ain’t so bad. It will get better though. Not sure when but it will get better

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