helminthes
skip this one if you are squeamish.
sleep.
the holy grail of motherhood, or certainly single motherhood. when i was in college, i could sleep through anything, and i do mean anything- dorm parties, loud music, loud sex - you name it. this blissful state lasted until i went to midwifery school and suddenly sleep was a bit more difficult to come by. studying late at night, driving from new haven to spend nights working at the north central bronx hospital. followed by a day of sleeping. cut to the life of a real midwife and sleep was definitely a precious commodity. but none of those hold a candle to life as a single mother with a toddler who does not sleep.
the last few weeks have been particularly bad, with hazel waking most nights 5 to 6 times or more and seeming to be very uncomfortable. crying, wiggling and just not happy. i thought maybe it was the soy milk, so i changed her to something else. hmmmm, small improvement but not great. ruby meanwhile is a great sleeper overall but when she does need me at night it seems to be on a night that hazel is sleeping well. sometimes i get more sleep at work!
the thing about kids who are adopted is that you don't know what life was like before in the orphanage. most likely they were lonely , uncomfortable, hungry, wet and crying at night and no one came to them. so the "let them cry it out" idea that people use on their bio kids is not really the healthiest approach for adopted kids who need to know that you are there for them- day or night as they build trust in your family and attatch to you.
the other day in desperation i was searching on line for some ideas, tips (and sympathy) about what to do. i was literally at my wits end. the last meaty thing i read was the george clooney people magazine-i have no time to actually read on of those 'solve your child's sleep problem" books. but the internet is filled with wonderful snipets of info.
i found a good site with all kinds of insight into sleep architecture and sleep issues. reading the section on night waking eagerly, looking for tips, i stumbled upon what i think has been part of the problem.
pinworms. these lovely little creatures( of the family helminthes ) live in the gut, but at night when its really dark and quiet they crawl out to the anus and wiggle around, lay some eggs and generally make their host miserable. when kids have pinworms they have sleep issues. ruby has been complaining of an itchy bottom for a week or more, and hazel has been scratching scratching, and has a little red ring around the ____, ( hint: its not her collar),so it just makes sense. to determine if your child has pinworms, you are supposed to wait until they are peacefully asleep , go in with a flashlight, undress them, remove their diaper and shine the flashlight where the sun doesn't shine and catch the little worms in action. then to prove they are present you are supposed to take some tape and tap tap in on their anus and collect the eggs to take to your doctor.
i had good intentions, i really did. i put the flashlight by my bed and was planning my strategy of how i was going to to it. and then i realized that there was NO WAY i was waking hazel up to do THAT. all the pieces fit and sometimes you have to go with your mother instinct. so this morning i called a friend who is a family nurse practitioner and got a prescription to treat the little buggers.its a one time pill and by day 2 or 3 the little guys are gone. you repeat the treatment in 10days. tomorrow i'll be doing loads and loads of laundry. oh well at least i'll have practice for that future date when the lice come home from school or camp or where ever.
sleep.
the holy grail of motherhood, or certainly single motherhood. when i was in college, i could sleep through anything, and i do mean anything- dorm parties, loud music, loud sex - you name it. this blissful state lasted until i went to midwifery school and suddenly sleep was a bit more difficult to come by. studying late at night, driving from new haven to spend nights working at the north central bronx hospital. followed by a day of sleeping. cut to the life of a real midwife and sleep was definitely a precious commodity. but none of those hold a candle to life as a single mother with a toddler who does not sleep.
the last few weeks have been particularly bad, with hazel waking most nights 5 to 6 times or more and seeming to be very uncomfortable. crying, wiggling and just not happy. i thought maybe it was the soy milk, so i changed her to something else. hmmmm, small improvement but not great. ruby meanwhile is a great sleeper overall but when she does need me at night it seems to be on a night that hazel is sleeping well. sometimes i get more sleep at work!
the thing about kids who are adopted is that you don't know what life was like before in the orphanage. most likely they were lonely , uncomfortable, hungry, wet and crying at night and no one came to them. so the "let them cry it out" idea that people use on their bio kids is not really the healthiest approach for adopted kids who need to know that you are there for them- day or night as they build trust in your family and attatch to you.
the other day in desperation i was searching on line for some ideas, tips (and sympathy) about what to do. i was literally at my wits end. the last meaty thing i read was the george clooney people magazine-i have no time to actually read on of those 'solve your child's sleep problem" books. but the internet is filled with wonderful snipets of info.
i found a good site with all kinds of insight into sleep architecture and sleep issues. reading the section on night waking eagerly, looking for tips, i stumbled upon what i think has been part of the problem.
pinworms. these lovely little creatures( of the family helminthes ) live in the gut, but at night when its really dark and quiet they crawl out to the anus and wiggle around, lay some eggs and generally make their host miserable. when kids have pinworms they have sleep issues. ruby has been complaining of an itchy bottom for a week or more, and hazel has been scratching scratching, and has a little red ring around the ____, ( hint: its not her collar),so it just makes sense. to determine if your child has pinworms, you are supposed to wait until they are peacefully asleep , go in with a flashlight, undress them, remove their diaper and shine the flashlight where the sun doesn't shine and catch the little worms in action. then to prove they are present you are supposed to take some tape and tap tap in on their anus and collect the eggs to take to your doctor.
i had good intentions, i really did. i put the flashlight by my bed and was planning my strategy of how i was going to to it. and then i realized that there was NO WAY i was waking hazel up to do THAT. all the pieces fit and sometimes you have to go with your mother instinct. so this morning i called a friend who is a family nurse practitioner and got a prescription to treat the little buggers.its a one time pill and by day 2 or 3 the little guys are gone. you repeat the treatment in 10days. tomorrow i'll be doing loads and loads of laundry. oh well at least i'll have practice for that future date when the lice come home from school or camp or where ever.
posted by chris at
7:53 PM
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