The Battle of the Zzzzzzzz's

You know those weeks where time just seems to vanish and everything just seems chaotic? This is that week. We are still battling with chronic sleep deprivation. I am convinced that my children hold secret board meetings where they elect who will serve as head of sleep disruption for that week. 

There are tons of resources out there on how to deal with infants who do not sleep. However, when your babies are five and two, things get more complicated.

Squish was a terrible sleeper for the first two years but he has slept relatively well since we weaned him off breastfeeding a few months ago. However, at five, we still have on and off patches as far as sleep is concerned with Noodle and we have tried everything under the sun to get this under control. Trust me... everything. Finally, this past week, she has slept relatively well (except for last night when the thunder kept waking her, the night when we had an attack of crazy mosquitoes and the night when our neighbours decided that they would blast music loud enough to rattle our windows). Despite some disruptions, she slept most nights this past week. So of course, Squish  decided that he had to take over the sleepless routine. Some days he had extra long day time naps so he just has not slept. Other nights, he refused to sleep in his cot, opting for sleeping in our bed (across our heads) instead.  Maybe it is time to move him to a big boy bed of his own.

After over five years of not sleeping, you would think I would get used to it but honestly I feel like I am running on autopilot. Sleep deprivation does strange things to me- it makes me feel dizzy, tired and anxious overall and I have mini panic attacks thinking about things I might potentially do in my sleep deprived state (like fall asleep behind the wheel). It is a vicious cycle- when I finally get a chance to sleep, my mind is over active, conjuring up amazing ideas for things I would like to accomplish the next day. Then, when the next day comes, I am simply too tired to implement my ingenius ideas. 

Has anyone else battled with sleepless older children? How did you deal with this? Also, where can I purchase a caffeine drip?