Grandma is magic, Mommy is not

The one thing Thomas said when I told him I wanted to start a blog is that he didn’t want it to be a forum for husband bashing and/or a list of everything he’s ever done that annoyed me. I hope he doesn’t think yesterday’s post was me complaining about him. Because it was more me complaining about Meg. Or, more accurately, about her sleeping habits. (By the way, she is currently napping at my mom’s house while I am at work, because she will sleep anywhere but at home.)

So, my post yesterday was a bit snarky. But I was at the end of my rope. She flat-out refuses to nap at home. She’ll nap at daycare. She’ll nap at Grandma’s house. But not at home. And when she doesn’t nap, she turns into a monster (and doesn’t sleep at night).

All the fun we had on Saturday totally wore her out. She was soooooo tired. But I laid next to her in her room for an hour and she wouldn’t nap. She was a whiny, cranky, tired baby. The rest of the day was terrible. But! When I wrote about our day Saturday night, I left that part out! Because I do learn from past mistakes! (sometimes)

It took forever to get her to sleep that night. At some point (I have no idea what time it was), she woke up crying. I went in there and spent the rest of the night sleeping on her floor (we did bring the futon mattress upstairs and put it in her room, so whenever I refer to “sleeping on the floor,” I really mean sleeping on a mattress on the floor).

On Sunday, she still wouldn’t nap. She fell asleep in her highchair while eating dinner. The highchair was in the kitchen while I made my own dinner and all the sudden, I heard her snoring. It was the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. I had high hopes she’d take a full nap, even though it was already 6:00 and that would screw up bedtime. No such luck. She woke up after twenty minutes and started screaming. She didn’t stop screaming for the next two hours. I was sure there was something wrong with her.

She’s been chewing on her fist a lot – does her mouth hurt? I gave her Tylenol. When she didn’t finish a bottle that morning, I put the remaining 5 ounces in the fridge and gave them to her later. Did I cause her to have a stomachache? I didn’t think that was it. Ear infection? Don’t think so. She's just so tired. Could I put her to bed right away? NO. I tried many different things. I really thought she was sick or hurting somehow. She finally gave up and fell asleep two hours later. She was fine all night – although she slept lightly and kept waking up and half-crying before realizing I was already with her and snuggling closer. This morning she was fine, but still tired. I really think the only thing wrong with her is lack of sleep (and maybe a little teething). The poor thing is beyond exhausted.

The only place she’ll sleep for me is in the car. Other than taking her on a two-hour car ride (which doesn’t sound attractive), I don’t know what else to do. I’m just really, really glad Thomas will be home by the time I leave work today. The sleeping thing still sucks, but its so much easier to deal with when you can take turns.


P.S. I sleep with her a lot of the time now. I’d love to do this in my own bed, but it doesn’t work. She wiggles and rolls around and repositions and sits up and lays down and, if she’s being naughty, crawls to the other side of the mattress. It takes her quite a while to fall asleep and I spend the whole time terrified she’ll fall off the bed. When we sleep on the mattress on the floor in her room, I can let her wiggle and roll as much as she wants without being worried she’ll fall and hit her head the second I close my eyes. Plus, either Thomas or I get a good night’s sleep while the other sleeps with Meg and we trade off nights.

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I'm home now and, wow you guys, the difference in this child when she has had a nap is incredible.  She's actually happy and fun to be around!  Maybe I will have to take a long drive on Friday when its just me and her all day.