Ok so I'm pretty desperate. Not sure whether to post here or in sleep so have started here. I am desperate with exhaustion and it's quite literally affecting my ability to parent my eldest children, be a nice human being and basically function.
Will try and keep brief and summarise:
Dd1 (5.4y) bed at 7pm but wakes at least once a night most nights with nightmare/ scared of monsters or wet the bed. (We are using Brolly sheets not pullups - more success). Comes into our room, or shouts out. We comfort her and put her back to her bed.
Dd2 (3.0y) bed at 7pm too but then won't go to sleep even if completely exhausted. Sits up in bed, plays with toys, empties clothes from cupboard, up and out into the lounge, demanding drinks etc etc this carries on till 9pm every single night till she falls asleep. We have tried ignoring, shutting in garage, staying with her till she sleeps, bribing, shouting, you name it.
She then also wakes most nights very early- around 4am and wakes us up, wanting to come in bed etc we comfort her and put her back in her bed. She settles but up again around 5am. At this point she normally stays in bed with us.
Ds (4m)
goes down 7:30ish and wakes at 1, 4, 5, 6am most nights. Sometimes dropping the 1am and waking at 2 or 3 instead.
DDs have been waking like this for months if not years, but combined with a baby- this is simply killing me!
We are completely and utterly exhausted. Why why why are all 3 kids awake at/all night?? What can we do about it? What are we doing wrong??
Also, dh has a job which involves quite a bit if driving, and supervising people on heavy machinery etc so it really is an issue if he's over tired.
Please don't suggest co-sleeping- not room for all of us!! And we cant let one dd without the other. Jealousy issues. They still manage to creep in sometimes and it's not safe for ds.
Also, dh value our bed as 'ours', rather than a free-for-all. We want to sleep together not in separate rooms -sex life in tatters as it is!