Yeah, sleep, though it’s been many years since lack of it has been an issue, it brings back some very trying and sometimes scary thoughts. I’ve two GT sons, the sleep situation with the first one had DW and I seriously pondering whether it was wise to try for child #2.
For starters, DS #1 was a month premature at birth, that didn’t help matters any, certain systems in the body just aren’t as developed. The next item, being newb parents, we failed to recognize that DS #1 was having trouble digesting the formula product we were feeding him, vomiting up about every other bottle. Then, the ear infections kicked in for about 3 years. I swear if I would have invested in Amoxicillin and Pampers I’d have been a rich man by my own hand! I remember many nights being up 45 min. / down 45 min. all night long from about age 2 years to 4 ½ years, in all seriousness, there were many a morning when I was literally afraid in the morning to drive to work because I didn’t know if I’d be able to stay awake making the commute, luckily, I always pulled to the right and stay in the right hand lane, the zip strip on the shoulder of the highway woke me up more than a couple of times. I was probably foolish on numerous occasions to even attempt to drive but the need to put food on the table for a young family was encouragement to take unnecessary and not very bright risks. You know it’s not right when in the morning you’re physically sick to your stomach from lack of sleep. Then finally the doctor giving up on anti-biotics and putting tubes in his ears, that was a HUGE difference, however, not the end of the story by any means.
Next came what I’m sure many of you are familiar with, the active mind that simply will not rest, not even past midnight, the gears simply cannot stop turning! I felt so sorry for the poor guy….but there were so many questions in his mind at the end of each day, so many things to explore, so much to ponder! It didn’t help at all that at day care the daily routine included a nap, which DS #1 did NOT need, hell, it only made it that much HARDER to get him to sleep at night. Of course the day care insisted he take a nap like everyone else, it took a couple of meetings and a threat to pull him from the day care for them to shift his nap time to play time with the older kids. (This was the start of me learning to advocate for my kids, you know what is best for them even though it may appear to be against common practice and logic) We also taught DS #1 to meditate, this helped him not only to calm his mind before bed but also calm himself when he wasn’t able to move about freely for extended periods of time like on family vacation care trips over many hundreds of miles. It was a practice he began taking upon himself as he enjoyed the mental peace which he rarely experienced.
What ended the sleep problem all together though was pretty straight forward, partially growing out of it and partially us learning to wear him out with whatever it took, swimming was great for that, jumping on a trampoline, very long walks, whatever it took. In teen years, soccer, cross country team (for a while both soccer AND cross country team in the same day), and finally a gym membership where he was free to lift / stretch / swim until his mind was completely calm….and that continues to be his refuge and stress release while he’s in college…..and now, I’ll add, he LOVES naps! Suuuuuure, NOW it happens!
