Listener Laura asks us to name all of the things we’ve tried to help Linda to go to sleep. This episode went a little longer than even we expected.
We mentioned the Sleep Lady. You can find more information about her here.
We were recently interviewed by Hugh Duncan for his podcast Nuclearity. You can listen to our interview here.
I am catching up on this podcast, and the last one, which was so sweet… esp with them calling you exclusively Mom… I remember many of these bedtime tries!!
Thanks, Anne. You have spoken sanity into my life many mornings after our hard nights with Linda. Thank you for being there! Your empathy and prayers have meant a lot.
Hey guys,
Hang in there. I appreciate all the work and techniques you are trying with Linda. She is going to come out of this with so many techniques to calm herself and any future kids.
It reminded me of a joke I heard this week. A firefighter was called to a house where a cat was stuck in a tree. After doing everything they could to get the cat down, the firefighter said, “Don’t worry. She’ll come down when she gets hungry.”
The worried owner asked, “Are you sure?”
The firefighter replied, “How many cat skeletons have you ever seen in a tree?”
There will be an end to this at some point. Your patience and perseverance is a model for me.
Jon.
p.s. I can see why Wendy wasn’t as excited about the new picture. She looks exactly the same. Tim’s just got a new haircut.
At least the stress of the past couple years isn’t showing on your faces yet. Keep smiling 
Thanks for sharing! We really appreciate you allowing us to learn from your experiences! We participated in a staffing to fost/adoption of 3 little ones last week. After interviewing several families, they have decided to place the children with us. We have our first visitation tomorrow, weather willing. We are so excited!!! Also a little terrified. The oldest boy, who just turned 3, we are told has sleep issues, is impulsive and can be aggressive to his sister. Sound familiar? That is why we were so interested in what you’ve done. We are obviously hoping we will not get to have quite as much fun as you have had with Linda, but we want to be as prepared as possible. I was definitely hoping you had found the solution. I think the current placement home gave up and has him on a sleep med. We are anti med, except as a totally last resort for the safety/well being of the child. You are a year ahead of us, so we are counting on you to forge a path for us. Keep us informed about all the fun you are having.
Laura
Laura
Oh…I was hoping that you posted the picture of the kids bedroom after they were left alone in their room all night. ha ha
I’m working my way through all of your episodes. Thanks for much for these podcasts – they have been very informative, helpful for us (we’re brand new to foster parenting – licensed but no placements yet).
We have 2 “loin” children
ages 7 and 3. One thing I’ve learned that you didn’t mention regarding bedtime is simply the fact that kids need a lot of sleep. Most children do not get enough sleep. A toddler generally needs 11-12 hours of sleep, plus a good mid-day nap. When kids don’t get enough sleep, they will behave in crazy ways especially at bed time. And with all of the stress a foster child goes through, I could imagine they may need even more sleep than a “normal” child. With two working parents, evening often becomes “family time” and kids often stay up late to do family things or run errands (like therapy). Then they are woken up early in the morning to get to daycare/preschool. And being gone during the day, naps don’t consistently happen. All that to say that something that you didn’t mention (and maybe didn’t try?) was to put the girls to bed earlier / let them sleep later / just ensure that they were getting enough sleep.
A helpful book on this subject is Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child be Dr. Marc Weissbluth.
I do realize that this episodes is 2 years old, so your kids are in a different stage now and may not still have bedtime issues. I haven’t caught up to the current episodes yet.
Thanks again for all you do to encourage foster parenting!
Thanks Shannon.
Trust us. We tried EVERYTHING.