Thursday, September 23, 2010

Desperate for Sleep

So in the great "Quest to get Abs to sleep 2010", I decided to try a few new things.

Melatonin--what a joke!  It has no effect on her.  None.  It was a nightmare. 

I was cleaning out the garage, and found 2 baby gates.  These are the really tall ones, so I thought that they would be perfect.

The first night, feeling all proud of myself, I put one gate up.  I made it high enough where she couldn't go underneath it, but it would still keep her contained.

*****Disclaimer******  Abs knows full well that she can kick down these gates in an emergency and escape, so don't give me any grief about that people.  On the bright side, if she kicks them down, I will hear it and rush to her room to bust her before she gets downstairs.

Okay, back to the first night--SHE SLEPT!!!  Of course since she had been up over 24 hours, I wasn't surprised, she was exhausted.

The second night (Tuesday), I put the gate back up like the first night, and she escaped.  I didn't hear her, but I did hear the tv at 2 am.  I chased her back to bed, then spent the next few hours chasing her back to bed again and again and again.  

ABW 0 Abs 1

The third night, I was not going to be a fool, so I put up TWO gates, one on top of another.  At 2 am I heard Abs open the door and she called out for me because she had to potty.  No problem, I opened the gates, let her potty, and then put the gates back up.  I went back to bed.  I slept.

This morning I woke up and was patting myself on the back again about getting some sleep, and I went to get the kids up and I noticed that Abs had left her door open, but the 6 foot high gates were still in tact.  Score one for ABW.


I mean, look how tall that is!  There was about 6" of clearance at the top.  I would be able to hear it if she kicked it down.  She could call for me and I am such a light sleeper, that I could let her out if she needed to potty.

I found a solution.

I peeked inside to wake up my beautiful 9 year old well rested daughter.

I didn't see her.

I opened the top gate.  Opened the bottom gate.  She was nowhere to be seen.  

I looked in the closet, under the bed, in all the covers on her bed.  Nothing.

The little imp CLIMBED over SIX FEET of gates and escaped.  She was sitting downstairs watching tv in her bucket of beans.

ABW 0    Abs 2

12 comments:

Julie Danielle said...

Oh my goodness! When I saw the gate picture I thought for sure she would not be able to get through that.

Anonymous said...

We moved into a rental once that had hook and eye latches outside the small bedrooms and inside the master bedroom. The principle would be the same as the gates -- If you use small diameter screws she could easily kick the door open in emergency but she shouldn't be able to sneak out.

Teresa

silver star said...

Either you have a monkey, or she remembered seeing you open the gates, close them and did it the same way.

McMGrad89 said...

Sorry about the melatonin.

My son was an escape artist at the age of 15 months. He was found in an Embassy Suite by some fellow dancers wandering the halls in a diaper. The girls had the sense to grab him and bring him to their mother. I didn't sleep for years after that. When Gary would go away. I would bring him in my room. Turn on the tv with almost no volume. Block the bedroom door and put my leg over him. Eventually he fell asleep and on the nights that he didn't, I got sleep. I felt bad, but I needed my sanity.

I don't know what to do about an older child. I will keep it in the forefront of my mind though.

Anonymous said...

ABW, have you ever thought of doing Yoga with your daughter? One of the best results from Yoga for me is sleeping at night. I have no idea if there is a yoga studio in your location but you might want to give it a try, unless of course, you are already practicing yoga. 8-)

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Anonymous said...

I cannot stop laughing. Seriously. I don't know how you do it sometimes.

Ellen said...

Holy crap. That is amazing.

In a not so good way, I guess. I would be a mess always being on alert. Hang in there! I really REALLY hope that she starts sleeping. Like now!!

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Crazy Shenanigans-JMO said...

Wow! I can't believe she got out of that!

Sal said...

OMG that's hilarious! We tried Ferber and it worked like a charm (well, sorta Ferber. I didn't let him cry tooooo much). Anyway, I'm a SAHM to little boy and a deployed Army guy. Glad to have found you! Stop by to visit me sometime, too :)

Http://exploitsofamilitarymama.com

The Mrs. said...

flyboy is in awe of her. and grateful that dash2 only wonders until he's fallen asleep.

kids are a delight but a terror at the same time. hang in there and call if you ever need too. ill even let you talk this next time to make up for me doing all the talking last time.