Mom Perfectly Sums Up the 'Million Reasons' Why Parents Don't Sleep

Your idea of a “good night’s sleep” changes when you enter parenthood. Once you officially join the club, taking a nap in the middle of the day is more rare than seeing pigs fly, and you now look at bedtime as the best time (even if it’s a few hours shorter than it used to be).

Amy Betters-Midtvedt, of the blog Hiding in the Closet with Coffee, is now a mom to big kids, but the whole sleeping thing, or lack thereof, hasn’t changed too much. And while the reasons why she is up at night have changed, it all goes back to one thing: Her overwhelming love for her kids.

“When my kids were babies, I legit fantasized about sleep. I’d wake up in the morning after a long night and plan out when I might be able to take a nap…I was so tired,” she recalls.

But, knowing her kids wouldn’t be little for long, she figured her sleepless nights wouldn’t last forever. Or so she thought.

“I was sure someday I would sleep again. I would take back my life once these kids didn’t need me to feed them all night or rock them, or when they were no longer getting up ready for the day at 5 a.m.,” she says.

“And yet I still wake up planning when I might be able to get a nap. I am so tired,” Betters-Midtvedt explains.

The reasons are different, but being a caring mom is a constant.

“Because now I’m up until all hours with [big kids] doing homework, or wanting to have the conversations they weren’t ready to have earlier. Or I’m working to get done any of the things that fell by the wayside because I’ve been driving around in my van/taxi all the hours,” the blogger says.

And, most times, she’d do anything to go back to the baby days.

“I’m still up at night, now wishing for the days when how long I would continue to nurse them was the big problem. It feels like that would be easier to solve than whether or not my baby is ready to move across the country for college,” she admits. “And when she goes, I’m guessing I still won’t sleep because she won’t be under my roof.”

Are you noticing a trend here? Because Betters-Midtvedt is.

“There are a million reasons moms aren’t sleeping, and those reasons change but don’t go away just because our kids grow. We are all so tired, because tired is how you feel when you’re giving all you can,” she says.

The mom leaves her followers with one important reminder: “Someday we will sleep, but the odds are it won’t be today. We are so tired. We are so loved. We are so lucky.”

It’s no secret sleeping with kids in the picture is basically mission impossible. If you’re really struggling to keep your eyes open these days, check out a few insider tips to help you get better sleep.

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