I love sleep, and I need quite a bit of it to feel my best--7 to 8 hours a night.
However, as a mom, I rarely sleep a full night without interruption.
Currently my baby has a cold, and her congested breathing often wakes me with a start.
I used to dread this.
I would go to bed at night praying "Please help them sleep--so that I can too!"
I have learned some strategies though for "night prowling" with a baby or toddler that make it easier.
Prepare--if you know that your baby will need medicine, a bottle, a drink etc during the night put it beside your bed so you can grab it quickly if they wake up.
Relax--if you are walking the floor with the baby resist the urge to look at the clock and repeatedly calculate how much sleep you are missing. A tense mother doesn't help a baby go back to sleep.
Enjoy--snuggle your little one while you can--before you know it they will not need you during the night.
Distract--sometimes I read a book with a low light on, and before I know it my little one is snoring again.
Pray--I do some of my best praying at night--often at night I think of some of our friends who live (literally) on the other side of the world, and who are awake and working at that very moment.
What are some of your strategies for coping with wakefulness at night?
Those are some great ideas. I always pray while I lay there awake...I agree it's one of the best times since you aren't distracted with things that you would be during the day. I don't have little ones to get me up anymore, but if I can't sleep, I just stay in bed. I read somewhere that your body still needs rest..as in laying down and being off of your feet...even if you aren't actually asleep.
ReplyDeleteBetsy I always pray too when Imawake in the night sometimes.:)
DeleteJust think, there are a lot of us up at the same time, doing the same things (well alomost). Lots of prayers are said during the wee hours.
ReplyDeleteSigh! I know is now easy now I dont have littles but still when I get up for something I go to see the kids if they OK OMY I have mad eit for 18 years lol
ReplyDeleteAre we some of those you pray for? Thank you! I've had a lot of very interrupted nights lately, too, but thankfully I'm able to nurse my baby so it's a matter of rolling over, getting him started again, and sleeping till the next time. He's been waking me up every hour or so; I think he's teething.
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