peg@linus.UUCP (Margaret E. Craft) (06/07/85)
The question was why not just take the not-quite-trained kid to the bathroom when I go to bed, instead of asking her and then diapering if she doesn't respond. The answer: it's pretty hard to get her to wake up enough to pee (unless she is already awake enough to tell me she wants to go) without setting off a crying spell. Anyone else have young kids (under 3) who are very unhappy when woken up before they want to be? Joellen is particularly unhappy when she's been asleep for less than an hour (i.e., fell asleep in the car) and cries without undertanding why. I feel sure it's not a "voluntary" fit of crying - she starts crying before she's fully awake and can cry for 10 to 15 mintues before getting herself under control. This behavior has lessened as she gets older, so I wonder if it's some kind of age dependent thing.
sed408@ihlpg.UUCP (s. dugan) (06/10/85)
> Anyone else have young kids (under 3) who are very unhappy when woken up > before they want to be? Joellen is particularly unhappy when she's been > asleep for less than an hour (i.e., fell asleep in the car) and cries without > undertanding why. I feel sure it's not a "voluntary" fit of crying - she > starts crying before she's fully awake and can cry for 10 to 15 mintues before > getting herself under control. > > This behavior has lessened as she gets older, so I wonder if it's some kind of > age dependent thing. I know exactly what you're talking about. My daughter, Anne, is 3 1/2 and still does that. I think it has something to do with completing a sleep cycle. I know when I take a cat-nap for less than two+ hours (the approximate length of a sleep cycle) I wake up with a nasty headache and am really punchy. I think this must be the problem with Anne, but all she knows is that she doesn't feel right and the only way to tell me is to cry. I just hold her until the crying fit goes away (or just let her kick the floor if that seems to be what she needs. It's a little noisy, but I don't think there's much else I can do. Usually, if I try to do something about it, it only gets worse. Sometimes I tell her that she is welcome to cry (don't negate the feelings) but that she must do it in her room so that she doesn't disturb the rest of the family. Her response to that is usually to go in her room, cry for about a minute longer, and then come out and join us. Sarah E. Dugan -- Sarah E. Dugan (a friend of Dr. Bob and Bill W.) "One Day At A Time"
steven@luke.UUCP (Steven List) (06/13/85)
In article <415@linus.UUCP> peg@linus.UUCP (Margaret E. Craft) writes: >Anyone else have young kids (under 3) who are very unhappy when woken up >before they want to be? Joellen is particularly unhappy when she's been >asleep for less than an hour (i.e., fell asleep in the car) and cries without >undertanding why. I feel sure it's not a "voluntary" fit of crying - she >starts crying before she's fully awake and can cry for 10 to 15 mintues before >getting herself under control. > >This behavior has lessened as she gets older, so I wonder if it's some kind of >age dependent thing. We have two children: Sarah (4) and Matthew (2). Neither of them EVER likes being waken up before s/he is good and ready. However, we have chosen (generally) to accept the cost at bed time rather than in the middle of the night or early morning. Since both kids are now potty trained, we find that the only times they have nighttime accidents are those evenings when we've chosen not to wake them and take them to the bathroom. In fact they also cry in the same involuntary fashion as Joellen. The crying stops about 10 seconds after they are back in bed (unless fully woken in which case I recommend heading for the next county to avoid the cranks and whines). Again, the cost is easier to take when we're conscious rather than in the wee hours. Parenthood is probably the greatest charge available! -- *** * Steven List @ Benetics Corporation * (415) 940-6300 * {cdp,greipa,idi,oliveb,sun,tolerant}!bene!luke!steven ***
kaiser@jaws.DEC (Pete Kaiser, HLO2-1/N10 225-5441) (06/14/85)
Mireille is 3-1/2, and if she falls asleep, we don't wake her to pee, for the
same reason mentioned in the original note: she wakes up "hard", particularly
when she hasn't been asleep long. So we just diaper her or put her on a
waterproof pad, without awakening her.
Perhaps this is commoner among small children than I used to think. It wouldn't
have occurred to me, because I awaken easily and undramatically. That's not
true for my (older) sister Sue, though, so maybe it's not age-dependent.
Anyhow, linus!peg, you're not alone.
---Pete
Kaiser%JAWS.DEC@decwrl.arpa, Kaiser%BELKER.DEC@decwrl.arpa
{allegra|decvax|ihnp4|ucbvax}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-jaws!kaiser
DEC, 77 Reed Road (HLO2-1/N10), Hudson MA 01749 617/568-5441mark@tove.UUCP (Mark Weiser) (06/17/85)
Our 3-almost-4-year-old needs to be carried to the bathroom almost
every night for a pee around midnight, else the bed gets wet.
She wakes up about half way as I pick her out of bed, I kneel down with
her on the toilet and stroke her back and coo, and then carry her back
to bed. She is out like a light instantly every time.
-mark
--
Spoken: Mark Weiser ARPA: mark@maryland Phone: +1-301-454-7817
CSNet: mark@umcp-cs UUCP: {seismo,allegra}!umcp-cs!mark
USPS: Computer Science Dept., University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742bobn@bmcg.UUCP (Bob Nebert) (06/18/85)
> We have two children: Sarah (4) and Matthew (2). Neither of them EVER > likes being waken up before s/he is good and ready. However, we have > chosen (generally) to accept the cost at bed time rather than in the > middle of the night or early morning. . >> I've got three children , the oldest is 4.5 years a girl. >> The boy is just over 2 and a 3 mopnth old baby. I guess I'm >> lucky. The girl has been trained fortwo years now and the >> boy in in the process of training himself in the daytime.(he >> grabs my hand and quietly says POOOOOOOTY. >> Training at night was pretty easy. We have a night light in the >> bathroom so as not to wake the kid, I slid in picked her up, >> and headed for the bathroom. Once on the commode Gently say >> something like "potty time" after a couple of times the term >> penatrates the sleep barrier and your done. >> I dont know, it worked for me and Jennifer never had a problem >> good luck.
lwall@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Larry Wall) (06/18/85)
Our little Heidi (3 1/2 now) always hated being got up to go potty. What
was interesting was that she didn't mind being awakened (more or less) to
go back home from Grandma and Grandpa's house. My wife had a brainstorm,
and instead of making the poor thing wake up and walk to the bathroom,
she picked her up like we do coming home, and carried her to the potty
chair. No problem. When she was done, she'd walk back to bed under her
own power. She now makes it through most nights, so we aren't doing the
"potty in the middle of the night" thing, but the carrying is what did
the trick in our case. Apparently waking up to go potty is much less of
a strain to the psyche than waking up to walk somewhere and go potty.
Larry Wall
{allegra,burdvax,cbosgd,hplabs,ihnp4,sdcsvax}!sdcrdcf!lwall