Sleeping

I feel like I haven't really slept in 5 years. Until last night :)

You see, LittleR wakes up quite a bit still at night for various unimportant things, and then is up at 5:20a for the day. That involves me going up the stairs frequently throughout the night and trying to coax her to be quiet in the morning so the other kids don't wake up. All of this equals me not sleeping very well.

But last night LittleR was spending the night at her grandpa's house, and there was only 1 child waking by M, and I went to bed early because I was so tired. So I slept. I actually slept. It felt wonderful to wake up this morning and actually be awake and functioning. I drove to work without feeling sleepy in the slightest. I need to sleep more often.

So I guess we are sleep training the 3.5yr old. I'm not sure how to do this. Leaving her in her room while she is yelling for something is an option I am seriously considering. This would teach her that I am not coming upstairs during the night. However, that doesn't stop her from coming downstairs to get me, or from waking up so early. Perhaps a clock like we have for K would work for the early wakings. We got her a clock that has a moon and a sun and we set it for a certain time and she isn't allowed out of bed until the sun comes up. It's like a little kid alarm clock, except it keeps her in her room instead of waking her up :) I'm not sure if LittleR is too young for this though.

Regardless, something needs to be done, because I desperately need more sleep like I got last night. It was glorious.