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Tuesday, October 21, 2008

LONG DAYS AND NIGHTS

Alice is better but still not completely well - this is particularly clear during the evenings and at night.

She woke screaming from her lunchtime nap yesterday only 50 minutes after she'd gone to bed. So she was really tired going to bed last night, no fuss, no problem. I went downstairs and continued making 'Thank you' cards for Alice' baptism and birthday presents. About 90 minutes later she started to cry, almost hysterically, I got there as fast as I could and it took over 20 minutes to calm her - very unusual. I hadn't had supper or fed the dogs at this point so once she was properly calm I let her stay in my bed while I went downstairs to sort out food, dogs etc. I was as quick as I could be, when I got back to her she was still wide awake but calm. She made it very clear that she wanted to stay with me so I had an early but restless night - she makes the bed so hot and insists on lying right next to me which makes me even hotter, also she kicks about a lot in her sleep, all that makes for not much sleep. The benefit comes in the morning - when she sleeps longer than she would in her cot.

We're having another quiet day - she's not well enough to go swimming. We had great fun making and tasting chocolate chip muffins this morning and now we're both enjoying her nap!

2 comments:

Snickerdoodle said...

YOu could try what I did...put some pillows, or one long body pillow down the centre of the bed, so you could be a bit of sleep without being so hot, or being kicked so much. She stays on her side, you stay on your side... Worth a try.

Snick :)

Anonymous said...

Hi, Kate. I'm a friend of your father's in the U.S. and only just got a link to your site from an email he just sent. Congratulations on your precious Alice!
Re: children sleeping in parent's bed...
I was sort of fanatical about not getting into the "bad" habit of letting mine sleep with me when they were young, so it was rare for them to do so. Since then, I have known of families who had the "family bed" which they shared 'til the kids were grown, and everything in between.
Now that mine are independent teens, I sorely regret all the times I said "No" to them. My daughter (15) will sometimes ask to sleep in my bed if she's troubled about something or has watched a scary movie or such. (And she's finally stopped flopping like a fish in bed, but that was a long time coming!) But I think back on some of the times my son begged to climb into bed with me because he was scared about something and I think what a mean Nazi I was to have denied him! What seemed like their interminably long infancies/childhoods turned, without warning, into breakneck-speed races through the teens, until WHAM!--all of a sudden you find yourself bracing for the empty nest. Try to cherish every moment--you don't get another chance at that precious moment.
Bottom line: there are times (like when she is not feeling well) when she should not be shut out. For me, though, I'll have to wait and take my own motherly advice once I'm a grandmother! The previous post suggestion was good--to put the long pillow down the middle to separate you once she's asleep.
Sara from Louisiana