Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Strange Sleep Habits

One thing I've observed in Whitney and heard a lot about from other 1p36 parents is strange sleep habits. I'm not sure what exactly causes the abnormal sleep patterns in my little girl, but they sure create some interesting situations.

I know for a fact that Whitney is awake during the night, and sometimes for extended periods. Sometimes she'll stay in her room and play. Melanie and I find toys and things out in the morning. Other times Whit will go exploring. I'll never forget one night I awoke from a very deep sleep at about 3 am to find Whitney standing over me in the darkness. Talk about stopping your heart.

But no matter what happens during the night, wake up time in the morning is always prompt. Whit's body clock is set to go off between 6:30 and 7:00 am every day. Which doesn't exactly delight Melanie, but it means I usually get to give Whit a hug before I head out for my workday. I very much enjoy that. I could delude myself into thinking that Whit gets up at that hour with the express purpose of giving me a hug before I leave, but I know the real reason behind it. Sesame Street airs at 6 am on our local PBS station and I usually put it on for Whitney before I leave. Whitney and Elmo are pretty tight.

Often all the night time partying and early mornings get to be too much for Whitney. We regulary find her fast asleep someplace in the house after playing with her toys. This happened the other afternoon with a funny twist. Whitney was upstairs playing and Melanie went up to check on her. Whitney had gotten tired and decided that her pink mesh dirty clothes hamper would make a good tent to sleep in. So she knocked it over, crawled inside and was fast asleep when Melanie found her. She looks pretty comfortable to me. Maybe I'll have to try something similar the next time I need a snooze.

3 comments:

ARIEL said...

my daughter has 1p36 and she is sweet 16 her name is ariel. i just started notice her sleeping habits are the same as your daughter.

Jenny said...

Taylor does things around 2:30 or 4:30 in the morning. I love to wake up to little rasacals or charlie brown on the t.v. at those times. She also has started going into her older sisters room and crawling into bed with her and waking her up. Gotta love it!!!

So on hotels the Crystal Inn is always one of my favorite places and they have a full breakfast buffet in the mornings included and I believe they have fridges and microwaves and a nice pool too.
On Christmas I got the web site that her therapist and teachers order things from and that is what I am doing for Taylor. Getting things that will entertain her and be therapy at the same time. Here is the site. hatchearlychildhood.com
Good luck with everything.

Nate said...

Sounds like lack of sleep is something all of us 1p36 parents will just have to get used to.

Jenny, thanks for the tips on toys and hotels. Hope you guys are well. have a Happy Thanksgiving!