Lately I’ve been battling what feels like major sleep deprivation. To make things worse, it came along with a side of insomnia. So, not only am I dead tired all.the.time, but I cannot fall asleep when I finally have the chance. Oh yeah… and the crying baby doesn’t help either. Once I actually do fall asleep he usually wakes me up. Multiple times. Because I’m just too tired to sleep train him.
When sleep disorders affect one member of a household, they affect all members. Keeping late hours — mixed with random daytime sleeping [i.e. The never long enough Shabbos nap]— throws off family activity schedules, bonding time and the sleep patterns of other family members.
–quoted from health.howstuffworks article here
Part of the problem is that mothers put their kids to bed and then stay up much later than they should… It’s understandable, Mindell says. “A lot of moms see the night as their own quiet time to relax or as a chance to get things done that they couldn’t during the day,” she tells WebMD. So instead of going to bed earlier to compensate for the sleep they’re losing in the night, mothers might stay up later — further eroding the time they sleep.
–quoted from webmd.com article here
Ok, so this is me and my life right now in a nutshell.
And what bothers me is that no one understands. No one seems to care. No one realizes how little sleep I actually get.
Others sleep when I am up, so they think that I am sleeping too. If they don’t hear a screaming baby all night long, then it’s as if the baby didn’t wake up at all. And no, that two-hour Shabbos afternoon nap three weeks ago doesn’t make me less tired now. It was great then but that was three weeks ago.
Going to bed earlier is easier said than done. Night time is the only time I have to myself. It’s the only time I can shower and the only time I can go to the bathroom in peace. It’s also the only time I have to cook, prepare lunches for the next day and eat my own dinner.
And on those rare nights when I do get into bed earlier, it doesn’t mean that I will actually fall asleep. And it definitely doesn’t mean that I won’t be woken up seconds later by a child in need.
Oh how I wish I could sleep late one morning. Are all kids wired to wake up at 6am every morning or is it only mine?
I think I’ve reached the end of my rope. I am totally considering hiring a babysitter on the nights/weekends to watch my kids so I can sleep. I know it sounds crazy, but right now I think that will be the only way.
I know that all moms go through this… What have you done to alleviate sleep deprivation?
Until next time,
Shaindy
