There are many great mysteries in the world. How were the pyramids built? Was the sunken Atlantis real? What was the purpose of Stonehenge?
And HOW DOES A MOTHER KEEP A NEWBORN ASLEEP WITH A TWO- AND FOUR-YEAR-OLD FLITTING AROUND? And just how many times in a day can said newborn be woken up by overly loving siblings? Lastly, how long until Mama snaps because she has to YET AGAIN go through the rigmarole to get that newborn back to sleep?
Fame and fortune awards anybody who can solve this mystery for me.
Nothing more annoying. I've gone hoarse over that one.
ReplyDeleteI was just there not too long a go with a 3.5 yr old and a 2 yr old waking the newborn. But now at 4months she'll sleep through almost anything except the high, shrilly screams.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, but remember, this too shall pass.
Oh, that is my biggest memory of having my 3rd child. I snapped countless times. :( A sound machine could help the baby but won't solve the problem of energetic children who gain more energy the more tired and stressed you are.
ReplyDeleteHang in there.
Now I am getting a better idea of what I have to look forward to.
ReplyDeleteSee, we have the opposite problem here - the baby screams so loud she wakes up her brothers! We'll get Julius down and then the baby will wake him up (and even Leo who is down the hall) with her screams! And in a tiny apartment, there's nowhere to hide. Last night Ben and I had gotten the boys to sleep, I had just breathed a sigh of relief, and then Joni screamed for 3 hours straight. Within 10 minutes of her screaming, both boys were up. Even my father in law could here it downstairs and came up to make sure everything was okay (I'll be adding that to my list of most embarrassing moments). *sigh* During the day, Julius (2) just ignores her, but Leo *will* try to kiss her and hug her while she's sleeping, and he has woken her up before...it's really frustrating.
ReplyDeleteI think that the little ones either learn to sleep through anything, or they do the opposite: wake constantly and don't sleep until they're exhausted. And mom just has to go with it. If you try to "put the baby back to sleep" every single time, you will drive yourself nuts.
ReplyDeleteI have heard that any problem can be fixed with rope and duct tape ;)
ReplyDeleteSeriously my little ones eventually learned to sleep through the lovin and shreakin!
Peace, Katrina
this is just my experience so YMMV... I've found from baby #3 onwards they were increasingly impervious to the noise of siblings. We lived in a pretty small space for babies 3, 4, and 5... they just got used to the noise. Any chance you can have Margaret out and exposed to sibling noise without them getting physical/waking her up?
ReplyDeleteMy friend who had 7 kids used to put the baby in a swing behind a gate so the other kids couldn't get to the baby and wake her up... I'm guessing that's not something you'd do but I'm mentioning it anyway.
My personal experience was at the point when I was recovered enough to "get things done" I really did have to put the baby down for periods of time to get those things done, and the way kiddo slept the longest was to have them in their regular sleeping place (your bed, a crib, whatever). If you guys are hanging out together and Margaret is on you/in a sling and they are waking her up, you may just have to wait out her tolerance for noise...
I also agree with one of your previous commenters that trying to get the baby back to sleep if she's being woken countless times is just an exercise in frustration for you.
I'm sorry! I feel your pain, Kate would wake up within 5 minutes of me laying her down when she was newborn no matter what I did. She only slept for long when she was in her car seat or stroller, or in my arms. That included night time, as well. Even if I put her to sleep and nursed her in the bed next to me, I had to carry her for her to stay asleep. I was exhausted for the first two months! Margaret sounds like a fairly good sleeper, all things (two and four year olds:))considered! Love the pictures, what a cutie!
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