Nap Time

Good evening, Lovelies. I guess morning. It's about 4:30 am here, and I've been up for an hour. At 11 pm, I just couldn't keep my eyes open. By 3:30 am, I was up with the little royals again. What a wonderful nap. Now I sit here drinking my hot chocolate-- After an agonizing hour of battling with myself whether or not to make coffee. I opted for not yet. That could change.

Sleeping issues are something that have been quite prevalent in my world lately, and frankly, it sucks. The Prince would be easy enough-- In theory-- to wake up after a late night, deprive him of a nap and regulate his schedule. He sleeps. When he does finally go down for bedtime, he is out for eight or nine hours. With anywhere from a two to three hour nap in the middle. This is what the King and many others have recommended. To be completely honest, the only reason I don't do it is because I'm exhausted. Usually on those late nights, I've been up with the Prince AND the Princess. When I do finally buck up and bear it, I'm certain this will most likely be successful. Again, he sleeps. The Princess naps.

That is quite literally the only explanation I can give. When she sleeps, she sleeps anywhere from two to four hours at a time, and that's it. She'll be up for hours afterwards. Then down for two to four hours, rinse and repeat.

A real example of her sleeping schedule the last week or so-- We'll start from going to bed:

10:00 pm-11:00 pm: Falls asleep after a busy day.
1:00 am-2:00 am: Awake, usually in need of a diaper change and to eat two jars of food.
4:30 am-6:00 am: (This one varies) Eat two more jars of food and fall asleep.
9:30 am-11:00 am: Awake for the day.

Gosh, seeing that written out is almost a little depressing to me. Especially when I think of the earlier days of our existence with our Princess. She was an amazing sleeper. I couldn't have asked for an easier baby on that front. From about 2.5 months she started sleeping in her own bed, in her own room. Through the night. OK, I lied. We'd wake once through the night, requiring a bottle; then right back to bed until morning. It wasn't until she was about 2 years old that she started regressing, and I haven't seen those easy days since.
I've tried everything. I've tried night time routine. I've tried Melatonin-- On doctor's orders. I've tried herbal tea that promotes sleep. It's supposed to be amazing stuff. Maybe I'll try it next time I get non-children induced insomnia. With her, I tried to sneak it into her bottle. First I tried the mixture the same ratio as I do water to milk in her cups. That did not go over well. A few hours later-- And a trusted bottle later-- I tried two droplets of the tea-- Lemon ginger, for those wondering-- in her normal drink. Apparently, it's the little things and she still refused. So here I sit with tea and melatonin and a very awake Princess.

The King made a comment to me last night before I crashed. Something about it not being healthy to adapt to this nocturnal schedule like I am. I don't disagree with him. I sense where it's hitting my health. Beyond being exhausted and bags under my eyes, I've noticed some digestion issues. My temper is a little shorter than I'd like. I get random twitches and ticks. I know that if I were to consistently get enough sleep, that will all change. It makes me think though. If lack of sleep is doing all of this to me and my typically functioning body, what is it doing to the Princess'?

I know part of her sleeping issues are her all-fruit-all-the-time-diet. All that sugar, natural or not, can't possibly be good for her. She just wont even LOOK at anything else. Any other option at this moment is public enemy number one in the Princess' eyes. But I wonder if maybe we were able to get her to sleep, maybe we'll be able to get over the dietary issues. And the behavioral issues. Maybe that babbling stringing together that's starting to sound like sentences will become sentences. Maybe, just maybe.

So how do I do this, you may ask? How am I going to possibly get the Princess to sleep? I don't know. I do know that with the school year quickly approaching, I need to do something. Her doctor had mentioned getting her on a sleep aid at one point. First we would try melatonin to reset her internal clock. It didn't work. I haven't gotten her on any other sleep aids yet. I've heavily thought on it, and truthfully I maybe should have already just done it. I just haven't been ready yet. Something about giving my almost four year old a sleep aid almost feels selfish to me. Like I'm drugging her so that I can get some shut eye. If I can just keep wading through these nights, maybe I'll get my amazing sleeper back.

I know it sounds silly. I do. I can't help it. I am facing the reality that in fact I might be helping her.  As the King said, it's not healthy to have this sleep schedule. Maybe this is just one more thing to buck up and bear.