Despite the fact that we were first time parents, I chalked that one up to amazing intrinsic parenting skills.
And then, she had heart surgery, and all bets were off.
Ellie has consistently been waking up at 5:00 am or earlier since August, 2011. We are tired. We've put her to bed earlier, later, with more routine, with less routine, worn out, protesting, happy, you name it.
The kid just doesn't seem to need as much sleep as any other human.
When she's sick or teething, it's even worse. When I'm sick, all I want to do is sleep. Not Ellie.
She had been grumpy and up all night for two nights. Last night, she went to bed at 8:30 am and started chatting at 4:40 am. The birds began to chirp and Ellie was ready to rock.
She woke up happy and ready to play. Fortunately, Matt took her downstairs and I stayed in bed until 6:45. So far today, under the supervision of her sleepy parents, Ellie has..
* Eaten cereal and consumed her milk
* Squeezed a squeezie (both to eat and to play with her food, making a mess)
* Watched her favorite episode of Signing Time, "Leah's Farm."
* Made art
* Lost her pants*
* Built with Legos
* Done a puzzle
* Played with her Vera Bradley bunny. (Thanks Aunt Terri. My kid is started early.)
* Played with farm toys
* Played with zoo toys
* Played with her giraffes on the farm. Yes, giraffes. Plural. She has many.
I read early on that often, children with Down syndrome require more sleep than their typical peers. And while Ellie has a much better ability to sleep anywhere in weird positions, her extra chromosome hasn't delivered the promised sleepiness.
At least she's cute.
Plus, we've had some summer-like weather, although the week ahead is supposed to be rainy and gross. We took advantage while we could.
* About those pants. At Ellie's latest evaluation, I was told "A two year old should be able to remove ALL of their clothes." Um, I'm cool with this particular delay. We are trying to keep her clothes ON.
I'm in the exact same boat- My daughter Reid slept through the night so much so that before heart surgery she was on a NG tube to get those feeds in her- Now since, heart surgery 3 weeks ago- It's like a new baby- or like she's resorted back to being a newborn waking every 2-3 hours and up for good by 5ish...It's like they gotta make up for lost time before or something...Hang in there Mumma- One day we all will get to sleep again...
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I say "at least she's cute" most days. Cora stopped sleeping through the night after surgery too. But she's never slept through the night. She's up all throughout the night, many times a night, often for hours at a time. Chronic sleep deprivation is my middle name, and I have the new wrinkles and face that looks at least 5 years older than it did pre-Cora to show for it. I have tried everything I can think of, but there's nothing that really helps. But I do have a confession to make: Recently, when she wakes up too early I have been putting her in her pack and play in front of the TV and going back to sleep. I tried Signing Time, but she'd get upset if expected to watch the same episode more than once. So Yo Gabba Gabba on Netflix it is, since she loves it and it keeps playing. And I don't feel THAT guilty for the extra hour of sleep.
ReplyDeleteMy son is an early riser...always has been...I guess it's just who he is. He sleeps till at least 6am now but when he was a baby he was up at 4am all the time :( drove me nuts. I guess there is hope cause his baby sister sleeps in almost everyday past 8am!
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