I have no idea how to accomplish this, or if it even can be accomplished. Unlike sleeping in his own room which could have gone either way, trying to shut him in his room I know is going to be a huge scream fest. Even now if I put a closed door between me and him he completely freaks out. But if I were afraid of a scream fest, he'd still be keeping me up all night breastfeeding and sleeping in my bed with me. And I am desperate - DESPERATE - for some sleep. I just don't know what else to do other than encourage him to hang out in his room and play while I sleep just a little longer.
I could put a gate rather than a closed door...unfortunately the gate I have is missing pieces and unusable; fortunately I have my handyman coming over tomorrow so he can maybe jerryrig it. But this also means one more morning of being tortured if I don't just try to put him in there tomorrow...at this moment I'm not sure how to handle it. All I know is that I'm tired.
I spent much of this evening shifting crap around in anticipation of doing more baby proofing tomorrow. I have decided to make more of the cabinets off limits to B. He has a million toys he never touches - and I'm just kind of over everything in all of my cabinets being dumped all over the floor all of the time. Again, he's not going to like it, but it's time to set some limits. He can bring toys into the kitchen and play if he wants - but I'm a little sick of cast iron skillets being dropped on my
toes, pans being banged and dented, and frying pans stepped in with dirty feet, slipped on, and resultant screaming. Over it!
I'm also over his overnight diaper coming undone and sodden every night and poop smearing all down his legs and into the footies of his pyjamas. Over it! I bought some pull-ups and he's got one on now. We'll see if it works out any better.
Nothing on this earth would make me happier than B entertaining himself for an hour or two after waking up. Is this even reasonable at his age? Am I asking too much? Should I try to survive the remainder of this pregnancy on four to six hours' sleep a night? Ugh!
Good luck! I hope that you find a solution. I couldn't survive if I didn't get to nap when they do. It's the only thing that makes the sleep deprivation survivable (and I know I couldn't do it pregnant!).
ReplyDeleteI think expecting a child that young to entertain himself for 1-2 hours is very dangerous, even if he is trapped in his room. B is smart, if he can climb out of a pack n'play, he will figure out how to climb over a baby gate in no time. You might be better off focusing your energy on changing your habits by getting to bed earlier, even 11:00 would make a big difference.
ReplyDeleteMy friend has a sun/moon thing that plugs into an outlet. It turns blue at bedtime and orange when it's time to get up. You can set it for whatever times you want. Her kids are not allowed to get out of bed until the sun turns orange. She started it when her kids were two and still in the crib so they could learn without getting out. It's brilliant! It might be worth a try. You could just say he can't leave the room and needs to play quietly until the sun turns orange. I'll be using it with Sidekick when he gets a little older.
ReplyDeleteI was pregnant with #2 with a toddler. I found that I could usually sneak a bit more sleep time with television and a cereal bar/sippy cup combo. Cuddled up on the couch, or even at one point my bed. It's exhausting having a toddler and being pregnant!
ReplyDeleteWhat time do you go to bed? I never thought I'd be able to sleep as early as the baby... but now that I"m exhausted from her getting up at 5am, I find I can actually fall asleep at 6:30pm when she does, and I feel much better.
ReplyDeleteHow many hours a night is he sleeping? If it's 10 - 12, I think your only option is to go to bed earlier yourself. I really can't imagine a toddler entertaining himself for more than about 20 minutes at a time.
ReplyDeleteIf he's not sleeping 10 - 12 hours, he might be waking due to hunger. When Felix does that, I give him a sippy cup of milk in bed and he will sleep another hour or two after he drinks it.
I agree with Ali; I think expecting a child as young as B to entertain himself for that long isn't going to work, and could get dangerous as B tries harder and harder to get to you. It's not really developmentally-appropriate for such a young child to be able to entertain themselves for so long. Is there any chance you could get to bed earlier, even every other night or so? I can't imagine getting so little sleep NOT pregnant, so doing it pregnant has GOT to be impossible! Try to get more sleep by going to bed earlier; having to be up at the crack of dawn is just part of the package when you have young'uns. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI agree with the others that I would work on your own bedtime... I know it's hard to fight your body clock but when I try to snooze while Calliope is awake, it just leaves me so much more frustrated than just getting up. I hate that aggrieved feeling.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you could try taking melatonin to help reset your body clock?