Sleep Deprived

You would think, because Miss O. is almost 5 years old that we would have this whole bedtime routine down pat by now. Wouldn't you?

Yeah, not so much.

I can try to blame it on the fact that I worked until 11pm or later for the last ten years. Or that M. just never enforced the bedtime routine. And maybe those are valid reasons...but honestly, I think it's a cop out.

Miss O. will not go to sleep on her own, because I (we) have NEVER made her. *gasp*

When she was little and nursing, it was a matter of logistics. My job did not allow for pumping, so we supplemented with formula. But when I was with her, I breastfed her. Which meant that at 11pm or so, when I got home from work...I needed to feed her. Immediately. If for nothing other than my own comfort...and so I could have a little time with my baby.

As she grew older, I liked that she didn't go to bed at a certain time. It often meant that she didn't get up at the crack of dawn, like most kids. I loved that she slept until eight or nine o'clock in the morning. For me, it meant that I got enough sleep, too.

But now, I'm realizing that my little one needs more sleep. Because naps are SO last year, she needs to go to bed earlier.

That's why I'm sleep deprived now.

All week, I have been trying to get her into a bedtime routine. Put our pj's on, brush our teeth, read three books, and go to bed. It all goes really well until the going to bed thing. Every night within five minutes of leaving her bedroom, I hear the pitter-patter of little feet on my hardwood floors. So, I put her back in bed. And, five minutes later we repeat. And repeat...and repeat. Eventually, I get so tired that I lay down with her.

I keep telling myself that it will get easier...I hope I'm right.