Why do my children hate sleep??

**OceanPrincess** · March 17th, 2013, 09:16 PM

Please tell me I'm not alone in this...

Caught up today with some friends. Friend 1 has two boys, same ages as my two DSs, just about. Friend 2 has one boy, 2yo, and number 2 bub due in 5wks. Asked 2 how she is feeling about baby arriving and she said she's not looking forward to waking up overnight again. Friend 1 says how it's easier with the second baby, or she has found the night-wakings easier anyway, the second time around. Then she goes "S (her 5mth old) only wakes once anyway. So that's ok."

Friend 2 is nodding her head going "that's ok, I could get used to that, and hopefully he or she will be like S (her 2yo) and sleep through by six months anyway."

I know Friend 1's DS2 is only little, same as my DS2, 5mths. So his sleep could change. But my DS2, same age, wakes many times overnight. Many.

As for sleeping through, well, let's not go there.

Then I realised her DS2 is waking the same amount of times as my DD. I reckon 4 nights out of 7, my 4yo DD wakes and needs something from me. A drink, the toilet, a cuddle, a tuck in, whatever. DS1 will wake overnight maybe once a week, but wakes for the day between 5 and 6am.

Why do my kids hate sleep?? I love it. Why do they hate it so??? And why do I seem to be surrounded by friends with kids who sleep?

ETA: and now DS2 is awake. Sigh.

**HotI** · March 17th, 2013, 09:26 PM

OP, we should hang out more. My two don't like to sleep and wake often.

**~Kim~** · March 17th, 2013, 09:28 PM

No you are not alone.

...it's been so long for me, that on the rare nights one of them does sleep through (yes I am including miss nearly 7), I have to go and check on them.

You aren't alone with friends like that either. I felt like everyone else was sleeping except me.

**Santosha** · March 17th, 2013, 09:38 PM

a. Because your children are typical and the ones that sleep are weird... I mean, unique!
b. Because your kids are tough and sleep is, in fact, for the weak.
c. Because your kids have been skyping my kids over night and workshopping parental torture strategies
d. Because you are so awesome that they cannot be without you for 12 hour periods

**onthefly** · March 17th, 2013, 09:58 PM

Santosha needs to write a book

Most of the people I know do not have kids who sleep like that.

**OceanPrincess** · March 17th, 2013, 10:14 PM

HotI, be there in the morning

Kim... On the nights that DD doesn't wake I go check on her...

Santosha - you are too funny

Love your work.

MadB - I need to hang with your people!!!

**Calluna** · March 17th, 2013, 11:17 PM

Santosha! Perfectly said.
And yep. If DS (3.8yrs) is still in his own bed at 4am I may or may not wake up anyway and freak out a little that he might have somehow seriously injured himself overnight or died

**~clover~** · March 17th, 2013, 11:27 PM

Out of my 4 its only the 7 & 10 year olds who sleep through. Thankfully DS (5) doesn't wake me, unless he wets & needs a 'wee shower', but most nights will come into my bed.

I'm only just convincing DD3 that sleep is ok... got her down to one wake up (2.5!) & she goes & gets the flu!! Hoping she settles again though...

Maybe our babies will get all the horrible stuff out now & be easy teens????

**~Hestia~** · March 18th, 2013, 07:26 AM

You're not alone! It's hard feeling like you're the only one dealing with sleep deprivation

Our Moo is 3.5 now, all his little friends still have day sleeps while he dropped his years ago. He finds it really hard to switch off so is in and out of bed multiple times before he finally crashes and usually one of us has to sit in there with him. He wakes up several times per week plus will have a bad night where he is up screaming numerous times once or twice a fortnight. He has nightmares and night terrors. He comes into my side of the bed every single night and when he does he is up for the day! Never mind if it's 4am or 5am, he's had enough sleep thankyouverymuch!

One day our kids will love sleep and I am very much looking forward to that!

**AliBaby** · March 18th, 2013, 10:40 AM

Love it Santosha

OP-

**OceanPrincess** · March 18th, 2013, 11:47 AM

One day our kids will love sleep and I am very much looking forward to that!

Oh gosh me too!!! Do you promise?

Maybe our babies will get all the horrible stuff out now & be easy teens????

I hope so!!!

**Cass72** · March 18th, 2013, 12:05 PM

Well last night, DS2 only got up twice - so maybe we are finally getting to the "sleep through" stage? He's 3.

DS1 on the other hand takes himself off to bed, never wakes me throughout the night and gets up on his own without too much fuss in the morning.....He's 18.

I spoke to one of the dads at Aikido on the weekend and he said that with their twins, when they first went into beds, he had to sleep outside their door for a month to get them out of the habit of getting up.

**BrightSparkles** · March 18th, 2013, 01:25 PM

Nope. Your not alone. Hugs xx

**Arimeh** · March 18th, 2013, 02:11 PM

Definitely not alone! Mine are hard to get to sleep and none of them sleep through (not even the 6 year old).

I'm so used to waking up that on a recent trip to tassie - without children - I still woke up every two hours at night.

So now I don't sleep through the night either it seems

**willow5** · March 18th, 2013, 03:27 PM

I'm another with a normal kid

He goes down, with help from me by 7.30 at the latest (or we've missed the window) Then it is VERY rare if he doesn't get up looking for me before I go to bed, and I have to go and lay back down with him again. Through the night he wakes a few times looking for me, he's happy to just touch me to know I'm there and I have a mole (yes

a bit odd) that he likes to touch, or pick as he calls it to get himself back off to sleep. Things will be very interesting when the new baby is here in a few weeks. Maybe this one will like to sleep ..?

He's 3 now, turned 3 last Dec, but until he was 2 he woke every two hours every night. We did have a win on that with a no numbers restricted diet. But he still seems to need me through the night.