BEDTIME! Need to complain? Do it here!

[behaviourmama]

Ahhh, bedtime.... I know we all have those terrible terrible nights (once in a while, all the time..) that make you C R A Z Y. Lets start a thread where you can get all of your bedtime woes off your chest where 1. nobody will judge you 2. you can let go of the emotions so you won't take it out on DP 3. you can do it again tomorrow without losing your mind 4. say those nasty things that you would never ever want to say out loud (go the F*** to sleep?? anyone??) 5. laugh at how ridiculous your life is, and lighten the bedtime mood!

I'll start.

3:30 DD1 (the non-napping almost 3YO) and DD2 (almost 5mths) fall asleep in the car

4:30 transfer awake big one and still sleeping small one into house

5:00 LO wakes, change and nurse, back to sleep upright in my arms

7:00 LO still asleep, now on back in bed, I eat dinner in bed. Big one starts bedtime routine (wishful, I know)

8:00 Big one wakes LO during umpteenth bathroom trip

9:00 Both children still awake. Trade with DH, he gets LO to sleep. I rub big one's back, think she's almost out. Take LO back in my arms in bed, getting prepared to relax

9:30 Big one still awake, now loud, and LO wakes up. Trade again with DH

10:15 Big one asleep FINALLY. LO still up. Nurse, rock, bounce, give back to DH

10:40 Post on MDC. LO still awake, DH pacing back and forth upstairs. Dishes not done. House a disaster. Grumpy parents. Sigh.

[BeckyBird]

I really hate those nights when you don't get time for yourself. You give your time to others all day long, and by 10 pm, you are ready for your own free time.

But no, the kids are still awake for some reason. The dishes or laundry still must be done. Lunch still needs to be made, which takes me forever to do! Something else gets in the way of free time. All ya want to do is just SIT DOWN for five stinkin minutes and read a book, or play Sudoku, or watch a movie, or type on MDC lol. And you can't even do that.

By this time you realize that you will not have any free/relax time just for yourself. Grrrrr!!! You know that you will go to sleep, just to wake up and do it all over again tomorrow. Hopefully, tomorrow evening you will be able to have some free/relax time.

[carmen358]

Oh my, I needed to read this tonight....my almost 2 (birthday tomorrow!!) year old DD has suddenly gone WHACKO in regards to sleep. I won't go into the details but I almost lost it tonight :( Other than raising my voice once....which was bad enough.....I managed to mostly hold it together. I'm guessing all the late nights over the holidays have mixed her up. I want our "normal" schedule back!!!!

[crunchy_mommy]

Ahhh IDK how you do it with 2, that sounds horrible... I can't figure it out with just one kid...

We've been trying to get DS to sleep at a more reasonable hour because our marriage is going down the tubes after 3 years without any alone time, but it is NOT WORKING!!!! Last night (and nearly every night...):

8:30pm bedtime routine
9pm DH brings DS in the bedroom & tries to get him to sleep
9:30 DS comes running out of the bedroom screaming & sobbing hysterically
10pm Everyone in bed & I try to get him to sleep
10:30 DS is hungry. and thirsty.
11pm DH takes DS into the other room to play with him
11:30 DH falls asleep and I'm mentally throwing daggers at him
12:30am DS is jumping all over me and playing with his new cars (hey, at least he's playing well for once...)
1am DS finally falls asleep and I decide to give up on early bedtimes...

[Jewels*]

ARGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

My DD is an ok sleeper with a 7ish bedtime - except when leaving my MILs the other night (bedtime routine of pjs and books done there... all nicely planned to have her fall asleep in the car...) and MIL gives her a **HUGE** CUP FULL OF WATER.... which she gulps down because it's in this stupid sippy cup that she loves and then falls promptly asleep in the car.....

DD cannot sleep comfortably with a full bladder (who can!?) and she's up all night peeing all over me and the bed - DH is working night shift so i'm by myself and I change the sheets and then she pees on those too and we only have two sets of sheets and the others are already being washed and she's cold and wet and getting a molar and nursing every 15 mins and I just want to crawl *under* my bed and hide. 

[behaviourmama]

crunchy mommy - 1am???!?!?!?! I feel for you.. we did that for 6 weeks straight when DD1 was new. My brain gets all warped after 11pm!

jewels - its nights like that when we end up sleeping on towels over the pee! oh what we mothers endure!