Sleep Woes

Last week I ordered a Fitbit Ultra Wireless Activity Plus Sleep Tracker from Amazon and was super excited to get it to amp up my quest for fitness. I've been enjoying ChaLean and doing my half-mary prep, but we all know I eat too many sweets, so I'm not seeing the results I'd like to see.

And I thought the sleep tracker would be cool.... I suspected I wasn't sleeping well, what with a 6 year old with severe sleep issues due to SPD and a cute little dog that doesn't seem to think she can jump off the bed herself when she needs to go out.

So when my Fitbit came Saturday I was so excited to put it on and get started. It comes with a wrist band that you put the Fitbit in to wear overnight.

The first morning when I synced and checked the sleep results, I thought.... hmmm... must not have done it right. Surely I didn't wake that many times. Let's try again Sunday night.

Same thing.

And here's last night's data.




See the red? That's when I was awake! See that 23? That's how many times I woke up during the night! I can account for that larger block of time around 1:45.... WC came in to get in our bed and I moved to her bed, and of course, Bella needed to go out once she heard us moving around. But the rest of the red? Holy cow! No wonder I am a walking zombie!

Honestly, I have felt tired as long as I can remember. In college, I remember falling asleep in class all the time, but I attributed it to late nights out. And once I had kids, I attributed it to that. And after my liver infection a few years ago, I've attributed my tiredness to B12 deficiency anemia.

But maybe, just maybe, I am not sleeping worth a crap.

Thoughts?

It Takes a Village

You guys know that I have been having difficult times with The Wild Child lately, and I have been (im)patiently waiting for things to turn around. Almost three weeks ago WC and I visited a family therapist together who offices with our OT in hopes that she could give me some tips to make things go smoother at home. I also wanted to make sure that we weren't dealing with something like Oppositional Defiance Disorder.

I've been to see the therapist twice on my own since then, and one of the things we've been talking about is me finding some confidence in myself. I needed to remember that I am a good mother! I was having such a rough time that I was simply feeling sorry for myself and a little bit lost, parenting-wise, and come to find out, that's just a vicious cycle that creates more problems. The therapist thinks that WC is so in tune to me that my anxiety severely affects her. Since she knows she doesn't know how to deal with that along with her other issues, she pushes me away.

I feel so blessed to have found someone else who can help us. It's amazing how much better I feel after just three visits! She thought that as I gain my confidence back and institute some of her tips and ideas, things would slowly get better.

Well, last night was the best night we have had with her since her surgery in October! She actually let me lay down and snuggle with her and read some books and she fell asleep with her little hand on my chest. I am so excited that things seemed to have turned around for us!

In your prayers tonight, remember WC and I and ask for continued support for us from all the wonderful people who have been helping us over the last year. It seems to take a village to raise my child and I'm super happy to have the population of my village continue to grow.

Unbelievable

Last night about 7:00 I was getting ready to run the bath water for The Wild Child's bath, and my husband came into the bathroom and said, "I think you're too late...."

She was fast asleep on the couch.

We decided to just put her to bed and see what would happen.

She slept until 6:45 am! (To be fair, I should tell you she snuck into our bed twice in the middle of the night, but she went right back to sleep when I carried her back to her own bed.)

Knowing her sleep issues, I'm sure you'll agree with me- that was crazy!

I'm hoping this is the start of something new......

Today is Big Girl Bed Day

From Nov 1 through Christmas, The Wild Child didn't slept worth a shit. In addition to not going to bed until close to 10 pm, she would wake up an average of 5-7 times per night. Mr. Sasha and I were exhausted and didn't had a moment to ourselves. I didn't say a whole lot about this on here, because it's just hadn't been something I wanted to unload on you guys.

About a week before Christmas , I was doing some research and read about weighted blankets, which are supposed to help kids with SPD sleep better. I thought, what the hell, I'm desperate and ordering one. I ordered a 7 pound blanket that was 36" X 54" from The Hug Shack.

(photo from The Hug Shack)

It arrived on Christmas Eve and a miracle occurred! Her wakings decreased to 1-2 times per night, which was oh-so-much better. We were still having the issue of getting her to go to sleep in the first place though- 10 pm was still about the norm.

Last week, at the suggestion of Kelly Bee, I asked our OT about trying Melatonin. She said she had quite a few patients on it. I of course checked with my bargain board ladies and got some info on what kind to pick up (liquid). Another miracle! After giving it to her at 8 pm, she was going to sleep at 8:30 without a fight! I also checked with our ped to make sure he was OK with it, and he said if it's helping that much, go for it.

But she's still waking up once a night or so and coming into our bed, stealing my pillow, and jamming her little knees into my back and just generally disrupting my much-needed sleep.

So we think maybe she's rolling around in her crib-converted-to-a-toddler-bed and hitting the sides. So tonight, it's Big Girl Bed time. Mr. Sasha has already picked up the new full-sized mattress and box springs and dropped them off home, ready for us to rearrange her room tonight. All her furniture is tethered to the wall (I'm a super-smart mom!) and so we'll have to undo that and move stuff around to make it fit.

For now, we'll be leaving the mattress/box springs on the floor. I have a beautiful family quilt and a gorgeous pink blanket I've been saving to use on her BGB.

So cross your fingers and toes that tonight goes well!