MySeoulChild
04-11-2005, 05:54 PM
I'm to a point where I'm not coping. Peanut hasn't slept through the night in, oh, six months or so. She was sleeping through the night for a while, developed ear infections, then teething, and aaaaaagh!
So, the past week has been particularly bad. She isn't sleeping more than two hours at a time and with three other kids to care for all day (and homeschool, and a home, and a husband) things are just awful. DH and I are utterly stressed out, our frustrations are taking a massive tole on our patience and we aren't being as gentle or tolerant or kind as we need to be. It's all-consuming.
We are praying for patience and wisdom....and sleep! But, nothing seems to make it reasonable. Tonight we put the kids in the car and got drive-through because we're both just so tired and frustrated.
What can I do? MIL gave me the big CIO speech yesterday and FIL was going on and on about how "the baby is training you - our doctor said - and you just have to let them cry" I bit my tongue. Literally. Hard.
But, in all honesty, I don't know what TO do. DD side-cars in a crib and DD#3 sleeps in our bed (she's only 3 and has co-slept since she was a wee-nut peanut) and she does NOT like another sib lying next to her - especially a grabby-hand one year old who doesn't understand not to scratch or poke in the face. I'm not even sure if the baby would sleep in our bed, but then again, she doesn't sleep in HER bed, so what harm could it do, right? I just want to run crying sometimes. And it drives me nuts that I'm an experienced mom and have no idea how to fix this!!! Please help!
So, the past week has been particularly bad. She isn't sleeping more than two hours at a time and with three other kids to care for all day (and homeschool, and a home, and a husband) things are just awful. DH and I are utterly stressed out, our frustrations are taking a massive tole on our patience and we aren't being as gentle or tolerant or kind as we need to be. It's all-consuming.
We are praying for patience and wisdom....and sleep! But, nothing seems to make it reasonable. Tonight we put the kids in the car and got drive-through because we're both just so tired and frustrated.
What can I do? MIL gave me the big CIO speech yesterday and FIL was going on and on about how "the baby is training you - our doctor said - and you just have to let them cry" I bit my tongue. Literally. Hard.
But, in all honesty, I don't know what TO do. DD side-cars in a crib and DD#3 sleeps in our bed (she's only 3 and has co-slept since she was a wee-nut peanut) and she does NOT like another sib lying next to her - especially a grabby-hand one year old who doesn't understand not to scratch or poke in the face. I'm not even sure if the baby would sleep in our bed, but then again, she doesn't sleep in HER bed, so what harm could it do, right? I just want to run crying sometimes. And it drives me nuts that I'm an experienced mom and have no idea how to fix this!!! Please help!