Sleepless Kids

Posted on October 5, 2011 
Filed Under Fathering, Parenting, Photo

We had finally had enough. The “Little Man” was waking up often. Consistently. And it wasn’t pretty.

All dressed up and nowhere to go...

When he was three years old, Zane finally went up to Denver for an overnight sleep study. We had hit the wall, having his sleep – and ours – interrupted so frequently. Poor guy – he’d wake up at all hours and…play in his room. Or come into ours. Or cry out seemingly in great pain. The reasons were many, the explanations were not satisfactory.

We tried good bedtime routines. We had him on a sleep aid – such a young age for meds like that! Still, he woke up most nights.  It was easy to tell that the sleeplessness was catching up to him. Cranky. Irritable.

And the toll on us was pretty significant, too.

Have you been there with a child?  Sleepless kids can be a real challenge in many different ways. I was reminded about how common this problem is when I read an observation by one deprived parent, Emily Peck:

Look, I’m no sleep genius. I zombie-walked through much of the past week because my 3-year-old suddenly decided that 2 a.m. was a good time for some one-on-one with mom. Still, this week we’re back on track.

What’s worked: Consistently walking my son back to his room no matter how much he protests. It’s not a quick fix and my sleep definitely suffered. Moreover, I’m sure the problem’s not permanently solved. He’ll probably be waking me up in the middle of the night, well, forever. I imagine that when he’s older, I’ll sleep with one eye open, just waiting for him to come home at night.

I’m glad for Emily and her family that her son did find a good sleep routine. Sometimes a parent can help immensely with getting there. Other times, external help in the form of medications and even a sleep study are the route to go.

And so we scheduled the overnight appointment. We made the drive north, arrived early evening, and he got hooked to dozens of wires. Then we sat around while he tried to sleep in a new environment with the wires, hallway lights, and interruptions.

Insurance covered most of the cost of our little overnight science adventure. Good thing, too…because the final report was,

Zane is not getting enough R.E.M. sleep.

That was it? Well, sorry guys, but I KNEW that. Unfortunately, we were left with the same kind of options that we had been chasing prior to this expensive sleep study.

The good news is that Zane eventually did get into some good sleep patterns. Now eight, he usually is asleep by 8:30 or 9 every night, and doesn’t awaken most mornings until 6:45 or 7 a.m.

Now, however, I’m not sleeping like I need to, and I’m not really sure why.

I AM sure, though, that I’m not going to Denver anytime soon for a sleep study.

If you’ve had a sleepless child, what did you do about it?

 

Comments

One Response to “Sleepless Kids”

  1. cindi on October 5th, 2011 7:30 am

    Lack of sleep sure “taints” everything (attitude, healing of our bodies, ability to think clearly, and more…)! Our son had a hard time staying asleep, but we felt we were to blame as the ones who “jumped” to his whimpers too quikcly…we never experienced this like you did, but our hearts go out to you and others who do have that challenge.
    We relate to not sleeping as well now. HA. Too much on our minds? Not enought DOWN time before bed? Age? Who knows….but I wouldn’t do the study either! :)

    Cindi Ferrini
    http://www.cindiferrini.com

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