‘J’ was always a good sleeper. Well, once he was a few months old and out of the eat, sleep, poop, repeat mode. He was the baby you could put in the crib awake, he’d fall asleep on his own and if he woke up, it was solved with retrieving his binky. When he turned 1, he started going to sleep anywhere between 5:30 and 6:30 at night. Not as a nap, that’s just when he went to bed. In a way, it was great. It became a little more difficult if we had family dinner plans but he always adjusted well.

We knew that whenever we had another, we would not get as lucky in the sleep department. And we didn’t. ‘Baby J’ is adorable, happy, we are so lucky to be her parents. But the girl does not stay asleep. To her credit, she can also be put in her crib awake and fall asleep on her own. But she will wake up many times during the night. Most are quick and solved with a binky retrieval….but it still happens…alot.

Days before I found out I was pregnant with #2, ‘J’ decided it would be a good time to climb out of his crib. Convenient right? I mean we’d need the crib 9 months later anyway! With his new big boy bed came the realization that he could get out of his bed on his own. And so began the process of laying with him until he fell asleep. Two years later we’re still doing it for nap time and bed time.

Now throw in teething for ‘Baby J” and ‘Big J’ starting to have bad dreams and you get two zombie parents. I think we’re back to the days of appreciating a “good stretch of 4 hours” at night. I feel for both of them. ‘Baby J’ is in so much pain when she gets new teeth it’s heartbreaking. We know that ‘J’ is starting to have bad dreams even if he can’t fully comprehend or always communicate that which is horrible.

‘Baby J’ will still nap twice during the day which definitely helps for the nights where she is waking often. ‘J’ has been waking up extra early and sometimes during the night too which makes him more sensitive to his surroundings. I definitely get that. As adults, we’re not in a very good mood when we haven’t had much rest. I just want them to get a good night sleep, feel well rested and be happy when they wake up in the morning. In return, we’ll feel the same!

All I’m saying is as a collective unit, I look forward to us all sleeping through the night and feeling well rested the next day. At the same time, this is all a phase and it will pass. Once we are all sleeping through the night it will mean that they are growing up and soon enough will be in their teen years when I’ll be waking them up at noon. So even in this zombie mode, I will appreciate the tiredness (or at least try to) since I will (somewhat) miss it when it’s gone.

P.S. I love this post on Facebook from Parents Magazine: