Longing For Sleep
The day finally arrived! We got to meet with some doctors yesterday. Doctors who are sleep specialists at our local Children's Hospital. We were eager and excited for this appointment. We had completed and submitted a lengthy questionnaire prior to setting up the appointment and a sleep chart prior to the appointment. Not knowing what to expect or what the outcome may be, we went in with an open mind and some hope. Okay, so maybe a lot of hope! We also promised Abby there would be no shots and no poking by the doctors. We were pretty sure!
Damn that was an expensive pat on the back! Which was nice and all, but I don't need a pat on the back. I need my child to be able to get more sleep! And really, she may be managing fine on the sleep she is getting. But she could be better off with even a little more sleep each day. We see that possibility on the rare day that she is fully rested.
Bottom line... in most cases where parents suspect that genetics are a cause for their child’s sleep habits... the parents have totally and utterly missed the mark. In most all cases, they are able to tweak things with the parents and child in ways that suddenly the child is able to get a couple more hours of sleep... each day. This comes straight from the docs mouth.
Ideally, a child should be able to fall asleep within 30ish minutes of going to bed. Falling asleep rather quickly is cause for concern just as is taking hours to fall asleep. We are on the longer end of that spectrum.
At this point of the conversation I still had hope!
After reviewing the results of the lengthy questionnaire, studying the sleep chart, asking a bazillion questions, and a great dialogue between the 6 of us, he/they concluded that she is plagued by genetics (my summary) and she has the natural sleep schedule of an adolescent… at the age of 6 and almost ½. Except, we’ve experienced this with her since birth. Those are memories that I don’t think I’ll ever forget.
While we didn't leave with our hopes and dreams fulfilled, we did leave with a better understanding and some ideas. They've given us a few things to try... that won't yield more sleep but theoretically will yield a child falling asleep in less time. Confused? That's okay! But it's a starting place.
THEN if we are able to make some strides with that effort we can then slowly tweak things with the very slight potential that she may obtain more sleep.
Regardless, we need to continue our “good sleep habits” as she is predisposed to having greater sleep problems as an adolescent and adult.
That is, until she has children and that level of sleep deprivation supersedes all other... especially with multiples... who don't sleep. But hopefully we have many years before that becomes a factor. And hey, at least Mommy can sympathize.
Damn that was an expensive pat on the back! Which was nice and all, but I don't need a pat on the back. I need my child to be able to get more sleep! And really, she may be managing fine on the sleep she is getting. But she could be better off with even a little more sleep each day. We see that possibility on the rare day that she is fully rested.
Bottom line... in most cases where parents suspect that genetics are a cause for their child’s sleep habits... the parents have totally and utterly missed the mark. In most all cases, they are able to tweak things with the parents and child in ways that suddenly the child is able to get a couple more hours of sleep... each day. This comes straight from the docs mouth.
Ideally, a child should be able to fall asleep within 30ish minutes of going to bed. Falling asleep rather quickly is cause for concern just as is taking hours to fall asleep. We are on the longer end of that spectrum.
At this point of the conversation I still had hope!
After reviewing the results of the lengthy questionnaire, studying the sleep chart, asking a bazillion questions, and a great dialogue between the 6 of us, he/they concluded that she is plagued by genetics (my summary) and she has the natural sleep schedule of an adolescent… at the age of 6 and almost ½. Except, we’ve experienced this with her since birth. Those are memories that I don’t think I’ll ever forget.
While we didn't leave with our hopes and dreams fulfilled, we did leave with a better understanding and some ideas. They've given us a few things to try... that won't yield more sleep but theoretically will yield a child falling asleep in less time. Confused? That's okay! But it's a starting place.
THEN if we are able to make some strides with that effort we can then slowly tweak things with the very slight potential that she may obtain more sleep.
Regardless, we need to continue our “good sleep habits” as she is predisposed to having greater sleep problems as an adolescent and adult.
That is, until she has children and that level of sleep deprivation supersedes all other... especially with multiples... who don't sleep. But hopefully we have many years before that becomes a factor. And hey, at least Mommy can sympathize.
posted by Sonya at 9:01 AM
2 Comments:
I hope the doctors' ideas help... that sounds like a tough thing to be dealing with.
Falling asleep really quickly is cause for concern too? How so? Just wondering because Kim falls asleep in seconds and so does Erik a lot of the time.
I would love to know the tricks he gave you to help her fall asleep faster, as you know I've been dealing with the same thing as well. I'm on the opposite end, if the lights are off, I'm out.
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