Military Families
Sleep problems after husband returned from deployment
My husband just returned from deployment 3 weeks ago when our son was 11 months old. My son had only been sleeping in a crib for about a month in preparation for Daddy's return. Before that, he slept with me. It seemed like he was finally used to his crib in his own room and was sleeping for long stretches during the night. Then DH returned and even though my son loves having him around, he's waking up constantly again. DH has been trying to help with bedtime and middle of the night wakings but that seems to be worse. I even broke down and tried CIO the other night. Miserable failure for all three of us, won't do that again. This morning, I ended up sleeping with my son on the floor in his room from 4:30 to 6:30. I can't keep doing that. Does anyone have any suggestions for me? I'm kind of resenting DH at the moment and I don't want to do that because I know it's not really his fault. DH doesn't seem to understand the concept of consistency and routine (even after being in the Army for 21 yrs).
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Re: Sleep problems after husband returned from deployment
Honestly, just give it a little more time. Having your DH back is a big change for your DS and 3 weeks isn't really enough time to adjust. If you have a bed time routine have you and DH do the same part every night, and maybe only have you go in for the night times wake ups. As much as it sucks, DS might be reacting to DH and thinking playtime rather than sleepy time (this happened with my DH)
On another note, it's really hard to go from being a "single' parent to a parenting team again. DS probably isn't the only one who is thrown off his routine
The boards are always around to vent to, but try not to resent your DH. He has to learn how to be a parent all over again after being in military mode too.
Oh, and one more thing, TAKE NAPS! lol. Give DS over to DH, shut the door, and let them spend some time together alone while you get some much needed shut eye. I've found a little sleep puts me in a much better mood about pretty much everything
I agree with pp all the way. Also, my DS started waking up in the middle of the night after he had been a through-the-night sleeper for a while. I did some reading and found that it is common for infant sleep patterns to change as they become more mobile. So, it may not just be your DH's return causing your son's change. CIO is SO hard and the 1st night was the worst for us (I resorted to sleeping on the floor with DS too!) but 2 nights later DS soothed himself and we all sleep soundly now.
Good Luck!