Ever since we started doing midnight potty training with Niko, I have been getting less sleep and sleep for me is very important. But, as I say, I do what I have to do. I would much rather have me do the midnight potty training than Nina; Nina isn’t the best sleeper in the world and it takes her a long time to fall asleep. I am able to fall asleep immediately.
And, yes, I do nap when he naps and those usually last an hour and a half.
We also moved Niko’s bedtime up an hour to around 8 pm and it takes him about an hour to actually fall asleep. During this time, I gather all the dirty dishes and trash from the upstairs and bring all of it downstairs. Now, I turn into a cleaner, a garbageman, and a cat litter cleaner. After I am all done, I finally gather my food supplies for the following day at work. So, now, it’s almost an hour later and I can finally eat dinner. Most of the time, I bring dinner up and eat in bed because I like the company of Nina and it’s really the only time we get to ourselves and talk about stuff.
Sometimes, while he is trying to fall asleep, he says I WANT MORE FOOD. I try to wait to see if he will eventually fall asleep. Sometimes, he does and sometimes, I have to rescue him with food and after I give him food, he falls asleep quickly. I always wait for Niko to fall asleep before I fall asleep and usually that happens around 9:30 or 10 pm. Depending on what time he actually falls asleep, I adjust my time for midnight potty training an hour later.
And, sometimes, at midnight or 1 am potty training, he wants more food! So, we get more food. If he is hungry, I will feed him; I can’t let him be hungry.
But, a few days ago, I told him, no more food after he goes to sleep and no more food at midnight or 1 am. So far, this is working! If he is thirsty, I will give him a drink at midnight or 1 am. Some of the mothers I work with tell me that I should cut drinks off after a certain time and while I understand it may help with pee and diapers, I can’t do that to him.
After I am done with midnight or 1 am potty training and if it’s the weekday, my alarm is set for 5:50 am. Once I am on the road around 6:15 am, I get to fight morning rush hour traffic for an hour. Usually on days off or the weekend, he wakes up around 8 am and I am very happy for for the extra sleep.
