I had the best nights sleep in a long time last night and woke up feeling fresh as a daisy. Isn’t it great how sleep can make you feel so amazing. I only got up to the Littlest, our 5 year old, once and it wasn’t until 4.30 am. She went straight back to sleep after I went into her room. Usually she wakes up at 1.30 am and stays awake till 3.30 am. During this time there is the usual shenanigans of needing to go the toilet, get a drink and then the can’t get back to sleep to complaints.
Maybe it’s because I promised her that if she woke during the night I would sit in her room with her till she went back to sleep. Maybe it was the stash of prizes she gets to pick from if she goes straight back to sleep. Maybe it was just luck, but whatever it is I’ll take it.
The Littlest started school this year and when she received a letter from her teacher before school started the sleeping issues began. She all of a sudden wouldn’t go to bed and would carry on for hours. She was scared or needed a drink or to brush her teeth, had to go to the toilet and wanted to sleep in our bed.
Then she would wake at about 1.30 am for up to two hours. I would spend those two hours getting up and down to her. But most nights I would let her get into bed with Mr Sleeplover and I.
So by the time she started school we were all exhausted. Exhausted from lack of sleep and exhausted from the drama of getting her to sleep.
I thought maybe once she started school it would stop, but it continued and she got even more tired. With so much to learn in the first year of school I was worried her lack of sleep would impact on her ability to learn. Mr SL and I were also getting cranky with each other as we were both so tired. So to keep the peace and for all of us to get some sleep we gave in and let her sleep in our bed from the start of the night.
When all three of us were in the bed none of us got a good nights sleep so Mr SL and I took it in turns to sleep in her bed. Not ideal but sometimes you have to do whatever works.
I decided enough was enough after this had been going on for a few months. She moved back into her bed a few weeks ago. Now Mr SL and I take it in turns to sit in her room with her till she goes to sleep. I think Mr SL enjoys it as he watches Netflix on his phone and I’m pretty sure he stays there longer than he needs to to. Haha.
So far this new routine seems to be working. That’s why I was so happy the Littlest managed to stay asleep till 4.30 am. It is almost a full nights sleep. After a few months of uninterrupted sleep I have not enjoyed being up through the night again.
Fingers crossed this continues. I hope I am not getting too confident that I am going to be getting more sleep regularly. Otherwise I will be taking the Littlest to the sleep doctor which I had to do for our 10 year old when she was younger, but that is a story for another day.
Has anyone else had to bribe their kids to sleep? And was it successful or did it end costing you a fortune??
