Both children fucking awake!!

[floatyflo]

1.30 am and both my children (5yrs and 18m) are awake again! I'm sick to death of this. Why don't they sleep through?? They both want me but my OH works nights so I'm trying to split myself between them buts it's fucking impossible. Fed. Up.

[Nowthereistwo]

Just giving sympathy

Last night our newborn and toddler were tag teaming sleep but at least I wasn't doing it by myself.

YouTube Samuel L Jackson's 'Go the fuck to sleep' audio book - it's very funny.

[guajiraguantanamera]

Don't really have any advice, but my 6mo has been waking constantly since he went to bed at 8 so you have my sympathies! Will your OH take over when he gets home and let you get a rest?

[Chocolateteabag]

Much sympathy - mine are both asleep, but I have insomnia and got bored lying next to a snoring DH. Cup of tea and MN for a bit til my head stops churning over things.

I'll probably go back through to one of them shouting!

[MissMarpleCat]

Chuck them in bed with you, snuggle and sleep

[HerRoyalNotness]

Ahhhh.

I caught my 5yo on the couch, in the dark, alone at 3am one morning, watching his iPad.

Then he and his older DB did it again Monday night. Nothing like waking up at 3.30 to little giggles though.

[Ipushedmygrannyaffabus]

I'm awake crying because I don't have any children and it doesn't look likely I ever will. I do appreciate you must be exhausted and you want sleep, but this stage WILL pass, and I'd give anything to be in your fed up shoes right now. :(

(But I also love my sleep and hope for your sake they suddenly turn into sleep demons soon!)

[OffMyAyersRocker]

Ipushed, that's really unfair. Do we have to be grateful all the time, can the OP not just have a little whinge about how fucking relentless it can be?

OP you have my sympathies. Dd2 is 23 days old and the reality of the sheer fucking relentlessness of the next 12 months kicked in today and l had a little cry.

I adore dd2 btw. But it IS hard work.

[paddypants13]

I feel your pain!
Dh also works nights. Ds 13 weeks has bronchilaitis (or however you spell it) and Dd (almost 3) is going through one of her occasionsl bad sleeping phases. I am awake all day and all bloody night!

Will give that audio book a try nowthereistwo. x
for you OP

[Vernonon]

Ipushed, I understand your post and am sorry - life can be so unfair.

My kids are both asleep and I'm awake pointlessly churning over things that I can't change or fix - lack of sleep is going to make my day tomorrow really hard

[LucozadeBreath]

My 6 month old is doing her nightly 4 am choir practice. So I feel your pain. Every night without fail, at some point between 4 and 5 am, she will get up onto her hands and knees and sing to herself for well over an hour.....and DH is snoring away completely oblivious

[Brioche201]

You day they both want you_ but if you pander to this then they will never sleep through.

[TiredOfFamilyPolitics]

That's bollocks Brioche.

OP, sleep is largely luck. Both mine started sleeping through in the same week, but the year and a half previously nearly killed me!

Can you figure out why they are awake. Bad dream? Too hot? Too cold? If DS wakes and there is light in his room then he freaks out and gets upset, so we have to close his shutters completely. If DD wakes up and can't see anything then she gets upset so we have to leave her shutters tilted so there is always light coming in.
If kicking the covers off, put a blanket or sheet crossways around the bed to hold the covers on.
Could you go and put some music on for them?
Do you talk to the, beyond the "it's ok now, I'm here, you're safe. Now go back to sleep?"
Are they in the same room?

[UnicornPooStillStinks]

Have you tried a Groclock in their room?

[Brioche201]

Of course it isn't bollocks.you need to teach that night is for sleeping. Just put them straight back without a word. You aredoing neither them nor yourself any favours by not sleep training

[Shutthatdoor]

Ipushed, that's really unfair. Do we have to be grateful all the time, can the OP not just have a little whinge about how fucking relentless it can be?

Needlessly rude post.

[Iggly]

Are they cold? We had the heating on all night last night and the kids slept through for a change (6&3)

[OffMyAyersRocker]

No it wasnt shuthatdoor but yours was. Not that l give a shit.

OP posted in the middle of the night out of desperation and along pops someone to say poor old me, you're so lucky... only here to l actually see competitive misery.

Let the OP have a rant for ffs!

[apinchofsugar]

Being sleep deprived is hell. It's even recognised as a mode of torture.

Of course we're all grateful to have our kids, we're even more grateful that they are healthy and not sleeping in an hospital bed, of course, but this has nothing to do with anything. You cannot appreciate your life and your little ones when you are really sleep deprived.

No, letting your kids cry themselves to sleep is not the answer for everyone. Some babies sleep through the night from a couple of weeks old, others need a year, it's pure luck. After reading a lot about sleep training, I personally think it's awful to let them cry, but each to their own.

OP< I do feel your pain. My only way to cope is to grab child, put in my bed and go back to sleep (and repeat, the older ones come by themselves). If fussing whilst in my bed, I put back in theirs, close door, let them cry for 2 minutes, pick them again and tell them to be quiet in my bed. It works.

[Northumberlandlass]

Floaty and Ipushed -you both have very valid reasons for being upset. Let's leave it at that. This is a safe place where people can talk / rant / cry and we should support each other! It's all relative and you can't announce that your pain is worse than someone else's!

Floaty - I get it, DS didn't sleep for years and years Sleep deprivation is awful. I couldn't function. ExH worked nights at the time and I can't remember the number of times he was on nightshift I would call him sobbing - I would have given anything to do a 12 hour nightshift rather than be at home.
It did get easier, but I know how utterly draining it is.

[milkmilklemonade12]

ipushed that's not a kind thing to say. Please don't make someone feel guilty in the depths of sleep deprivation. I am genuinely sorry for your troubles, but it isn't right to do that. OP came on for support.

OP sleep deprivation is a fucking nightmare. It can make every minute feel like a year. I have no advice, having only crawled through it myself. Sympathy, though. It's utterly shit.

[Shutthatdoor]

Let the OP have a rant for ffs!

No one is saying the OP couldn't FFS.

Did you read Ipushed post that you criticised that actually said I am awake crying Yet you still jumped in.

It isn't a competition but it is possible for most to have empathy for the OP and Ipushed.

[Funinthesun15]

for OP. Hope you managed to get some sleep and do tonight.

for Ipushedmygrannyaffabus and hope you did too.

[Nottodaythankyouorever]

OP came on for support.

I agree, however maybe AIBU isn't the best place for this type of post.

[G1veMeStrength]

For floaty and Ipushed. Lots of love to you both, both reasons for being awake are shite. Wishing you better times ahead.

[OffMyAyersRocker]

shuttgedoor the OP posted at 1.45am, think she wasn't up having a party. You don't need to go on a thread where the OP is looking for a little empathy and tell them you've got it worse.