A lot of people do not understand why we have to follow a routine for Joshua.
Yesterday was his birthday. We got up, he played with his cousins all day, and missed his nap because of his birthday party in the afternoon. He was grumpy all afternoon and evening because he missed his nap, crying at most situations he didn't enjoy. That night we went upstairs to read books in bed at 7:45pm, like normal, and fell asleep around 8:15 or so. at 9:00pm for about 45 mins he was awake and screaming and crying, because of something he was remembering from the day. Then at one point he didn't want to wear his pull ups anymore because they were hurting him.
At 11:45 he was back up screaming and crying and asking for cocoa milk, which we do not give him in bed at night. He was very mad at us for not giving him his milk and kept on screaming and crying. We told him if he wouldn't calm down we would spank him and did. Finally after the spanking and giving him a sip of water he calmed down and went to sleep. At 12:15 am he was back up screaming and crying because Ryan, a boy at his party, had a toy of his (this happened earlier in the day). He was screaming and crying until 1:00am when we finally caved and gave him his milk so we could get some sleep. He slept from then until 6:30 and is up and crabby as ever.
This is why we keep to his routine, nap at 1:00pm, in bed reading books at 7:30 or 7:45. He is asleep, hopefully, by 8:30pm and no matter what time of day we put him to bed he is up around 6am. If we put him to bed and he sleeps at least 10hours that night he is a lot happier in the morning. If we go to Church on Wednesday night and get back late, go to a friends house, if he watches too much TV, or anything exciting happens before bed we reenact what happen last night. So when people tell me it doesn't matter what time he goes to bed because children are flexible. That is NOT the case for him, unfortunately he has always been a horrible sleeper from birth and I don't see that changing anytime soon.
I am sure our baby inside was wishing he never has to come out of there. It probably doesn't sound like a very happy place when Joshua goes off like that. I am looking for a very normal day today.
Please pray he gets better at sleeping during the night. Every night we pray he sleeps in until 7am. One of these days that will actually happen.
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2 comments:
I am completly with you on keeping kids to a schedule! We hardly ever deviate away from our schedule and routine. Kids NEED routine and a regular schedule. They need to know what to expect all the time. Dylan at 16 months already knows what to expect every day. And you know, I function a whole lot better too on a schedule. So don't let anyone tell you not to have Joshua on a schedule. He really does need constistancy (as do all kids IMO). So I back you 100%!! Alexa will have a rough night too if she doesn't take a nap. We will be praying that tonight goes much better!
I will definately be praying. Hopefully once he gets a bit older and has to assume the "big brother" role it will ease that a bit. I can't imagine how hard that must be on you guys... no wonder having a newborn won't change your schedule much! Hang in there... it'll get better. :)
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