Monday, 09 November 2009

• Diaries of a Sleep Deprived Mom!

  

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  There was an era ages ago when I could go to sleep and stay asleep through the night.. undisturbed, unruffled, unpushed and my comforter stayed on me till I chose to toss it in the morning.. that day is long gone! My sleepless nights began when I decided to have a kid.. I struggled with insomnia through my pregnancy while I pushed the hubs to the limits as well...when I turned the air conditioning to dangerously low temperatures and he wore layered clothes and stayed wrapped in blankets (brings back images of Father of the Bride -2)! Still I found it too warm to sleep.. and kept loitering about the house mumbling to myself and the little thing playing football in my tummy! "How many times do I have to tell you.. that is not a football field... now do you mind coming out just yet?" No wonder men hold babies like they would a football, oh well I did too for a while!

  But I soon found out that the bundle of joy meant more sleepless nights...only now I wanted to sleep! So I tried to tackle hunger and the loud wails in my sleep .. as a result many a days the water ended up in the box of formula and the box needed to be thrown out the next morning! Finally the hubs started mixing the formula just so he could save some money! I weaned the imp off that midnight feed as soon I possibly could.. without seeming inhumane and un-motherly. Now, I was so ready to have my sleep back.. only he wanted to wake up every time he wet his diaper.. wailing loudly in disgust and anger! At a little over 1, he decided he no longer liked his crib and our nights were intercepted with wailing and crying trips to our bed and back.. till we finally gave up and exiled the crib for good! But that did not solve our sleep deprivation! For even tiny feet can hurt when they kick you in the rib incessantly.. and the tiny hands can haul off the comforter on a cold night!

  

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  The toddler bed arrived. There were nights when we would hear loud screams because the blanket had been kicked off and a furious little thing yelled because he was cold! Or one of the dozen stuffed toys in the bed had gone missing.. I would be frantically hunting for a minuscule toy in the dark of the night! 4 years later, you would have thought that I could finally get that sleep at night? Wrong!! The imp was now waking me up because there was no room in his bed...of course there wasn't why would there be? The dozen or more stuffed toys being hauled to bed every night have now taken over!

   

  So the huge bunk bed arrived. A bunk for the toys and another bunk with a full mattress (just to be sure we did not have a space issue for sometime to come) for the little imp. That seemed to work wonders for a while. However the mornings are always a problem.

   

  This morning, mommy was trying to sleep in (after the late night movie, I needed my sleep!). However, the imp already up was found crawling into Mommy's bed... whispering loudly in her ears.. and kicking mom off the bed! While mommy just had to get herself an extra strong cup of coffee and greet the bright day with her sore back, the imp had fallen fast asleep and refused to get up in time for school! Sigh! 
  But this mommy has a plan.. tonight, she is going to slip out to the car and curl up in there! Maybe I will even drive to a remote corner and park.. no point in getting busted by the toddler is there?

   

  So tell me how has your kid been sleeping? And whats your plot against sleep deprivation?

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