I’ve been getting into the bad habit of staying up hours after my daughter is in bed.
I used to go to bed at the same time as her, because she slept with us. Then she got pretty good at going to sleep on her own, so I’d wait an hour or so after she fell asleep to go to bed. These days, I spend a good 3 hours being awake after she’s down for the night.
It’s been taking its toll on me, physically and mentally. If you don’t believe me, ask my husband. I’m not sure which looks worse when he comes home from work – the bags under my eyes, the trashed apartment, or the pair of sweatpants I’ve been wearing for a week straight.
Last night, I decided I was going to be smart and get to bed at a reasonable time. I put my baby in her crib, and once she was asleep, I took a relaxing shower. After getting out of the shower, I crawled into bed, smiling sleepily. I couldn’t stop thinking about how well-rested I’d feel the next morning.
I should know by now that when I think I’m able to predict the events of the next 12 hours, my baby finds a way to prove me wrong.
Oh, sure, things were going great for a few hours. I was sleeping, she was sleeping, everyone was happy. Then 12:30am hit, and everything changed.
She woke up crying, which is typical. It happens about every 2-3 hours at night. I pick her up, feed her, and put her back to sleep. It’s never an issue.
I guess she wanted to make it an issue last night. She did not want to be held, be put down, walk around, take her binky, and definitely did not want to eat. She screamed for a good 30 minutes, and there was nothing I could do to calm her down. This has NEVER happened before.
I finally went into the living room, turned on the lights, turned on happy music, and stripped her completely down. This calmed her down, and I was eventually able to feed her and put her back to bed.
The rest of the night was uneventful, but she woke up this morning with an awful cold.
So much for being well-rested today. Not only did I get less sleep last night than I have in a long time, I have a runny-nosed, fussy, needy baby to rub it in my face. Thanks, sweetie! As I’ve said many times before, it’s a good thing you’re cute.