December Chit Chat - Page 22 « Back to Group Discussions

[Becky Wheeler]

Originally Posted by seraf 

Becky, can you try to train yourself to sleep when Levi goes down so you get a few hours before your fella gets home? I only mention it because lack of sleep + bipolar = mania in my family. I mean its not that clear and the mania makes it harder to sleep, too, but maybe some melatonin?

Is melatonin safe to take while breastfeeding? I heard it can decrease supply.

[Becky Wheeler]

Originally Posted by TalkToMeNow 

Becky, Sara is right. You need to get some sleep! What time does Billy have to be at work? Can he get up earlier so you can spend some time together then?

This is how it goes for Billy:                                                    This is how it goes for me:

12:30PM wakes up, dozes on the couch for an hour                  7AM continue being awake from levi being up because casey gets up

1:45PM starts getting ready for work                                        10:00AM finished drinking 2 cups coffee

2:15-2:30PM leaves for work                                                    1:00PM laying Levi down

12:00-1:30AM gets home from work                                          3:00PM crashing out, MIGHT nap between 1-3 hours

1:30-4:00AM unwinds from 10 hour day                                     6:00-7:00PM dinner

                                                                                              8:00 kids' bedtime

                                                              Billy gets home, so on and so forth.

[Abraisme]

Yeah, I would say that 3 hours of alone, 'unwinding' time is too much for a guy with 3 kids..  Maybe he could stretch swap that hour for an earlier time?  I don't think it's fair that he expects (or wants) you to stay awake at night when he could get up a little earlier.  Really, your sleep is pretty darn important.  You can't be a wife or a mother if you're never sleeping!

[seraf]

Amanda, I think that's why Shay takes such a late nap. He used to try to go to bed at 6 or 7 but the light and kids woke him up. He also got up too early for me. I'm really happy for him to go to bed at the same time as the rest of the kids so he gets up later. We stay up until 11, so we still get time to ourselves.

In other news, Shay slept last night and appears to be all scabbed up! That means he can leave the house tomorrow!!!

[TalkToMeNow]

Agreed! He's getting 8.5-9.5 hours of sleep, including dozing on couch. Obviously, 8 hours is ideal, but it is not always possible. Could he try going to bed at 2:30-3 and getting up at 10? Honestly, if I were you I wouldn't even spend that time with him, though... If he got up at 10, I'd take a nap!

I know working is tough, but lots of people work 10 hour days. Maybe if you talked to him, he could make some small adjustments to help protect your health (mental and physical).


Sara, yay for Shay! I get up at 5:30-6 for work, so I don't mind Jasper getting up early. He's usually at daycare at 7:30. On the weekends, we just let him roam around the bedroom destroying things while we get a bit of extra sleep. (It's a safe space!)

Originally Posted by Abraisme 

Yeah, I would say that 3 hours of alone, 'unwinding' time is too much for a guy with 3 kids..  Maybe he could stretch swap that hour for an earlier time?  I don't think it's fair that he expects (or wants) you to stay awake at night when he could get up a little earlier.  Really, your sleep is pretty darn important.  You can't be a wife or a mother if you're never sleeping!

[Becky Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Abraisme 

Yeah, I would say that 3 hours of alone, 'unwinding' time is too much for a guy with 3 kids..  Maybe he could stretch swap that hour for an earlier time?  I don't think it's fair that he expects (or wants) you to stay awake at night when he could get up a little earlier.  Really, your sleep is pretty darn important.  You can't be a wife or a mother if you're never sleeping!

I've tried getting him to go to bed earlier, but it seems if I'm not up "babysitting" him, he goes to bed whenever he wants. He was up until 5 this morning. He drinks every night,(  ) so I honestly think that is a major reason he's up so late and is so lethargic when he gets out of bed. So we made a deal that he's done drinking as of today. Fingers crossed, as the quitting drinking doesn't last more than a month. (I've insisted on AA in the past and he says he "doesn't have time". Can't force him to go)

[dashley111]

That's tough, Becky. I'm sorry. Dealing with people with drinking problems is really complex, and it probably won't be as easy as just quitting drinking as of today. I'm sure you know, but there are many facets to addiction that need to be dealt with for the recovery and mental health of the addict. Cutting out drinking is not solving the "problem", its just how a person becomes a dry alcoholic- the drinking aspect changes, but the psychological aspect and affects of the addiction are still there.

That's a big hill to climb. I hope you guys can find a good compromise.

[KayPea]

Happy new year!

Sonja - we use baby Advil. I haven't seen Motrin anywhere. We usually get it at London Drugs.

Oren goes to bed between 7 and 8, and is up between 6 and 7. He's up nursing all night, though. Dd is asleep between 8 and 9, so I get 2-3 hours of adult time in the evening.

[KayPea]

Oh, and he doesn't nap longer than an hour. Once or twice a day, but never at the same time.

[Jaimee]

We had to use Children's Motrin (calculated for an infant of course) last night b/c Austin dumped out the infant Motrin (don't ask) and Avery was up until 3am.  Not cool.  I'm so freaking exhausted.  Why won't these teeth bust through?!  ARGH.

[Mal85]

Becky: hugs to you. I don't know how you do it on so little sleep. My BIL works weird hours and it has always been hard on their relationship. He leaves for work at 1:30 in the morning (he drives a delivery truck for a dairy company, so has to be making deliveries before schools and businesses open). He sometimes gets home by 11:30 am, but usually doesn't get home until after noon. He goes to bed when he gets home and gets up shortly after the kids get home from school so he can spend the evening with them. Then goes to bed around 9 at night to get a couple of hours in before leaving for work. It's really hard on him physically to split his sleep up like he does, but he does it so that he can see his family for part of the day. Before they got married, he was going to bed very early in the evening and getting all his sleep hours in at once, but if he did that now he wouldn't see the kids. It doesn't sound like your DH is getting to see the kids much on his current schedule. He'd get a lot more time with them if he didn't unwind for as long in the middle of the night.

The girls here are usually in bed anywhere from 7:30-8:30 pm, depending on how naps fell that day. DH and I try to go to bed by 10:30. On the days I work, I am up at 6 to get ready. I get DH and the girls up by 6:30-6:40. The girls and I are out the door by 7:00-7:15 to get them to the sitter. I try to be at work by 7:30. When I'm home, the girls usually wake up on their own by 7:00-7:30, get DD1 to school by 8:15. Greta naps around 9 in the morning. Sometimes for an hour, sometimes longer. Get DD2 from school at 11:15, then home for lunch. Greta will nap again sometime between 1:00-3:00 depending on when she got up from her morning nap or if she took a morning nap. DD2 doesn't nap anymore, but has quiet (aka TV) time while Greta naps.

[seraf]

Jaimee, I'm convinced that the gums are going to just stay stretched over the teeth until he's old enough to lose them.

[birdhappy85]

I thought Sora's baby teeth would come in relatively in order since she first got the bottom two, then the top two, then the surrounding two on top. But nope, lo-and-behold she popped out a MOLAR way in the back this week. Is that typical?! So random. lol

[birdhappy85]

Have any of you seen this article before? My newly pregnant sister sent it to me. http://www.autismtoday.com/articles/ATTN_Researchers.htm  It discusses a possible link between autism and administration of Pitocin during childbirth (or a combination of pharmaceutical interventions). Increases in rates of autism have coincided with increased use of pharmaceuticals during childbirth. Hmm. I'm very curious to see what the findings will be with further studies on this topic. Of the women my sister and I know who have children on the autism spectrum, every single one was given Pitocin, including our other sister with an autistic son. The overwhelming of a fetus with artificial oxytocin as a link to autism would also possibly explain why boys are more often affected than girls. Apparently none of the midwives interviewed have had a single case of autism show up in their natural childbirthing practices. Very interesting.

ETA: In no way am I insinuating that pharmaceuticals cause autism. I personally think it takes a genetic component and a system overloaded with something [whatever that something is for each individual] to lead to autism. I'm merely interested in what the studies on this topic could conclude.

[Jaimee]

Interesting, Joanie!  I had not heard that before.  Maybe repost in the January thread?