I mentioned a post or two ago that I gave Nate a down comforter for Christmas. He opened it early when the power was out and we were facing a cold night.
I bought a King sized comforter for our Queen sized bed in the hopes that I’d actually get to sleep under it, too. Well, that lasted two days. It has gradually gotten worse until this morning, I woke up to this.
I’ve been awake during the process, and this is how it works. Every time he moves, he ratchets covers. A lot of them. With the last comforter, I’d feel him start to stir, and I’d grab the blanket and hold on until he’d settle again. With this comforter, it doesn’t help. He’s taking it, and unless I want to risk ripping, I’ve got to let it go.
This is complicated by the fact that Clark isn’t sleeping well, and comes into our bed sometime in the middle of the night. If I want to re-claim my fair share (or any share, fair or not) of covers, I risk waking the babe and being awake a lot longer than I would be if I just lay there cold.
I think I’m just grumpy because I’m not sleeping well. Aside from being frequently interrupted, I usually have to sleep in a less that comfortable position to accommodate the babe.
The last few nights, I’ve had to be uncomfortable and cold. Oh, and let’s not forget that I’ve been unable to shake this pseudo-cold for a couple weeks now. If we had a guest bedroom, I’d be there in a heartbeat, probably with earplugs in and the door locked.
I’ve tried to not bring Clark into my bed recently. I’ve tried feeding him a bottle in the crib, or nursing him in the living room. He gets mad and screams, half awake and unreasonable, and nothing I do will make him happy until I take him into bed. Of course, if he’s mad enough, even that isn’t enough and I just have to wait it out a couple hours.
I know this is boring, and I’m whining, and I should shut up.
Today, I’m trying to clean my house, wrap a few presents, and make one more stop on the shopping list to pick up a few little things. If the weather stays nice (not likely) I promised the girls we’d go to a park and practice for softball tryouts coming up in February.
I worked on the argyle stocking yesterday, finishing the leg and weaving in most of the ends. I’m hoping to finish the legwarmeres today, then I’ll focus exclusively on the stocking.
December 21st, 2006 at 11:47 am
(Awe, they’re so cute! Silly bed/comforter stealers!)
December 21st, 2006 at 12:08 pm
We used the family bed with 2 of our three (one refused it completely from birth). The youngest, now 7, still seeks me out during cold winter nights because she cannot get warm enough to fall back asleep, even with layers of clothing and quilts…maybe Clark’s the same way?
Just remember, he’ll be grown up faster than you will ever be ready for…treasure it now, sleep or no sleep.
Happy Holidays!
December 21st, 2006 at 12:12 pm
Cover stealing must run in the family. Why oh why must they completely wrap themselves in MY covers. I want my own bed!
December 21st, 2006 at 1:49 pm
When we were first married my husband did this, only what he thought were the blankets was actually my nightie he was ratcheting over to cover himself with. It’s so frustrating isn’t it? Get a nap in if you can! I don’t sleep comfortably with the babies either, and I’m Not Nice when I am sleep deprived.
December 21st, 2006 at 2:34 pm
Harrison is 4 years old now, and still is a heat-seeking missile in the middle of the night. We have a family bed too.
My cousin and her husband deal with the blanket stealing issue too. What they ended up doing was to use two twin size flat sheets, blankets, and comforters on their king size bed. Each has their own!
Either that or you could invest in some really warm pajamas.
Or get Nate a really warm sleeping bag! He could roll around as much as he’d like!
December 21st, 2006 at 7:32 pm
Ooh, no sleep is no fun. And don’t worry about complaining — we don’t mind.
December 22nd, 2006 at 8:56 am
I feel your pain. I’m getting very little sleep with our 6-month old. My hubby does the same thing to the covers. The twin blankets idea sound good. At least our little one is still in the crib for now. (It never really gets THAT cold in California). There has to be a light at the end of the tunnel. Hang in there and have a happy holiday.
December 22nd, 2006 at 12:14 pm
Hi there! This is a little off-topic, but I wanted to ask if you would post some of your favorite smoothie recipes.
I’ve been having the same one for months and I think I need a change. Mine is: 5 frozen strawberries, 1/2 cup vanilla nonfat yogurt, 1/2 cup pineapple juice, and half a banana. It’s really tasty and full of Vitamin C.
December 22nd, 2006 at 2:57 pm
You just need to get ANOTHER king sized comforter, sew the two comforters into a big tube (with one under the bed) and when Nate pulls the covers he just rotates THE ENTIRE TUBE.
Genius. I know! Hmmm. Maybe I should try to get a patent on that idea….
December 22nd, 2006 at 6:03 pm
I think the best solution is to put Nate on the couch. You take the bed, the King size comfortor and the baby in the bed with you.
When we were without power, Harrison and I were in the bed and Mike was on the couch. Of course, he had the gas fireplace, but it was still 60 degrees. As I was snuggling down into bed with Harrison beside me I thought,
“Sucks to be a man!”
December 22nd, 2006 at 8:25 pm
I read your blog all of the time and I don’t remember ever seeing a meme. Hopefully you aren’t opposed to them because I would love to know 6 weird things about you. 🙂
December 22nd, 2006 at 8:40 pm
Hey! About the cover stealing – my friends in Finland had that solved – similar to one of the other commenters. They had a queen size fitted sheet, then two twin size comforters with duvets. Each person had their own covers – there was no stealing!
Merry Christmas!
December 23rd, 2006 at 6:20 am
My fiance does the SAME thing with the racheting and all…so now we have 2 down comforters, and he ratchets BOTH. Sneaky devil. Whenever I get up in the night to use the bathroom I always come back in and fix the blankets in a huff, but then he wakes up and says “Sorry!” and I end up feeling bad for being crabby about it. It stinks to be cold at night, though, plus you have a crabby baby to deal with too! Hope you get some rest soon!!!
December 24th, 2006 at 12:12 pm
My husband is a notorious cover stealer. I bought some inexpensive fleece pj’s at Land’s End with some fleese socks. Now when he steals it doesn’t even register as chilly. LOVE THE PJ’s and the husband too.
December 29th, 2006 at 11:45 pm
We, too, suffer the queen bed/king sized comforter/cover-stealing husband dilemma, with the added fun of him taking the flat sheet & balling it up between his legs like a pregnant woman’s between-the-knees pillow. And Andy’s normal sleeping place is in our bed, and he gets overheated, meaning he’s usually up on the pillows, one foot in my ear in the morning. Due to other circumstances, hubby has been on the couch (probationary period), so finally I get to go to sleep and wake up warm. might I suggest a sleeping bag or two? the super-large ones you can zip together? that way you can still be close at night (if you want/need contact at night) but he can’t steal the covers because there’s nowhere for them to go.