Morning strategies for exhausted co-sleeping Mama

[Ma Cactus]

Does anybody who co-sleeps have any good strategies for getting LO out of bed in the morning without getting me out too?  We often have this problem on week-ends, when DH is around, up, and willing to take DS first thing so I can catch up.  It rarely works, although the times that it has were so blissfull that I keep hoping. 

Right now, it is worse because DS has been sick with a cold, sleeping very poorly, which means I am sleeping very poorly too (not to mention getting sick myself) and nursing him all night practically.  Then first thing in this morning (day 3 of sickhouse), he wanted to get up and play, and I JUST COULD NOT DO IT!  Daddy was downstairs (it was not even 7, so he had not left for work yet), and I just wanted DS to go down with him for an hour so I can catch up a LITTLE.  But he woudln't do it.  He is 3, and very very verbal, so it is not like he doesn't understand what I am saying.  I tried to explain that I need to sleep longer but he just wouldn't go downstairs without me until I lost my cool, yelled, and when DH came in I went in the other room with earplugs to try to sleep more.  DH took over, and DS eventually accepted it, but by then I was too uspet to sleep anymore anyway, feel like a zombie (a very guilty feeling zombie for losing my temper) and barely functioning, and DH had to stay home so I could go to work and escape the house, because I was not fit to be around, let alone mother my sick boy.  Which is where I am now, except I am too tired after much coffee to concentrate on much of anything. 

When this happens on weekends, I am almost always so grouchy after being dragged out of bed that I find it really hard to be a nice mama, although I usually do not actually lose my temper, just my sweet disposition (which is tenuous at the best of times - I did not get the moniker Cactus for nothing). 

Any advice out there? 

[Angelorum]

That's rough, mama.   It was never really too much of a problem for my ds to get up with daddy, after he was over a year old, but maybe I have a couple ideas for you. 

You could come up with a couple of special activities your dh could do with ds in the mornings you need to sleep in.  My ds loves to hang out with daddy because he gets to go in his office (dh works at home) and watch interesting videos on his computer, or "play" computer games.  Sometimes dh will save little projects that ds can "help" with for the mornings.  This week they've been making homemade ice cream, sometimes they make a more elaborate breakfast for themselves.  Once they sorted the pantry together.  They could build a cool fort.  If you come up with a plan in advance, you could tell ds all about it the night before, and then remind him about the fun he gets to go have with daddy when he wakes up. 

If he is just hanging out on the bed playing in the morning, you can try reminding him that the bed is for sleeping people, and if he's not going to sleep it's time for him to leave. 

If he doesn't want to go downstairs and find daddy by himself, maybe your dh could come and get him.  Maybe you could text dh's cell phone when it's time, if he can't hear that ds is up from downstairs.  That way you don't have to get out of bed and wake yourself up so thoroughly.

If you are really desperate, you could have dh take ds out for breakfast someplace, so the house is completely quiet.  

I hope you can get some rest soon!

[Ma Cactus]

Thanks for the tips!  We will try some of those out this weekend.  Today we were just totally blindsided - he slept much better the night before and we thought he was on the mend so just were not anticipating this issue to come up.