how the hell do you cope

[2shoes]

last night darling dd was a pain she didn't go to sleep untill 1am!!
nothing wrong with her all happy and chatty.
i was dropping on my feet.
how the hell do you people who's dc's don;t sleep well every night cope.

we go slowly insane.
And acquite temazepan from the GP and drug 'em.

2Shoes you have my sympathy, do you have to stay awake the whole time or can you sleep a little.

Every now and then my DD decides the middle of the night is time to wake up, chatty and smiles. So we resort to switching on the tv and me going to sleep whilst she watches the news or whatever is on at that time and waits till 6am when 'the Hoobs' start. I can still keep an eye on her with her camera. No way will she will watching cartoons as might decide that is a good time to wake up every morning. Luckily it isn't too often either.

she does it once in a while so there is no routine iynwim. normally she crys constantly and VERY loudly. you can't really sleep as she is soo loud and sort of calls out as if in trouble.
but if I am knackered after one night. i can't begin to imagine what others feel like when it is all the time.

dd is a very poor sleeper and right now is whinging and crying. She's got a nasty cough and cold but no temp. I've had the doc check her over for earache/appendicitis/chest infection in case there's something seriously wrong that she can't tell us about but nothing.Its driving me nuts. She's nearly 4 but crying like a 1 year old baby. They say she is bright despite her severe CP but emotionally she is much much younger than 4 or do all kids yell and whine and gizzle for 12 hours at a stretch over a bloody cough?
I'm worried there is something seriosuly wrong or maybe the new AED is making her irritable on top of the cold but its the not knowing that is driving me crazy and I'm tearful through lack of sleep

my ds is a very poor sleeper and will sleep righ through once in a blue moon. Sometimes we will wake and chat and sing and others he will just moan. Melatonin worked like a dream for a while but seems to not be so effective anymore.

The only way I cope is that both sets of granparents have him sleep over once night of the week so I know that if I can just get through the 5 days then I have 2 nights where I can sleep ( althought I often wake as I worry about him!) but Ican go straight back off...bliss

I wish we had useful grandparents. Not had a night off in 4 years.

NMC- I really do appreciate just how god damn lucky we are with both sets of grandparents without them I would have sunk im sure.

Ds1 normally goes to sleep between 10.30 pm and 11pm, so not too bad.

I'd love to say you get used to it, i'm not sure I ever have!

Ds usually goes to sleep at about 10 pm and is up about 7am ish.
But I have him trained to stay in his bed from 8pm so I do get some peace!!
And he does sleep solidly for an ASD.

we have a couple of good nights (drug induced), followed by 4 or 5 crappy nights.
DH has swapped obs recently so not working shifts so now he is able to help.
ds2 has a chest infections a the moment so even when sleeping is coughing & spluttering.

I don't cope I just shock people when I tell them i'm only 37 people always think i'm in my 40's.

Oh & I can't string a coherant (sp) together anymore

I have an up in the middle of the nighter and an early riser. Chocolate and wine keep me sane in the afternoon and evening respectively. Strong tea is a must in the morning!

I'm so glad I've seen this thread - I think we are all so busy coping that it has actually quite surprised me to find out that there are others in the same situation. Needmorecoffee I totally agree about the emotional maturity - my dd of 22 months has cp which is mild but her emotional maturity is still like that of a young baby.

Someone today asked me why I had two black eyes - I explained that it's just months and months of sleep deprivation and let's face it, not exactly as easy ride when they're awake either!