Atticus has always been a good sleeper. Once he began sleeping through the night for 11-12 hours at a time around 6 months, he never stopped. As he got bigger, we began a nightly routine of singing, prayers, and hugs and kisses and just put him in his crib and he always put himself to sleep. If he ever woke up in the middle of the night, it was because he was sick. In the mornings, he would take about an hour to wake up, but by the time he was fully awake, he would be happy. This also went for naps. We have always been so thankful that he likes to sleep!
About 5 1/2 weeks ago, we moved him to his big boy bed. We had been anxious about when the right time to do this would be to make this transition. And while we were not in a rush, because Grace sleeps in the bassinet right now, we tried it out after an out of town trip where he had to sleep in a bed with me. It worked great! He loved his Mickey Mouse sheets, his bed, our nightly routine of reading books, etc. He has mostly stayed in his bed without getting out to play. All has been great....until 2 weeks ago. We are not sure what changed. But, all of a sudden every night, he wakes up for at least an hour once, if not twice, to cry. And not just a few tears, but all out crying. So, for the first week and a half, one of us would go to him and soothe him, and get him back to sleep and then go back to our own bed. Well, as this continued we found ourselves going to him each night, but staying with him because it would sometimes even take him an hour to fall back asleep. He would toss and turn. Vic and I have thought of everything; he might have a tummy ache; had a bad dream; was scared of his nightlight; was cold; was hot; etc. But, everything we test to see if it might be the reason he is waking up screaming and crying is not holding up. I have read about night terrors, but I don't think that is it either. He just seems happiest when we do stay with him and he falls back asleep.
What is worse is that he pats his pillow wanting us to stay when we tell him goodnight or put him down for a nap. That can completely break our hearts because he just wants his mama and daddy to lay with him.
Oh, and every time he wakes up after a nap or in the morning, he also cries and cries until we come get him. We have tried to tell him to just play with his toys when he wakes up or to call out our names, like he used to, when he is awake. But, he just cries until we come to him.
Then, once he is up, he is exhausted because he hasn't slept well, so he is fussy and whiny. All. Day. Long. He has no patience; he doesn't want to play regularly; he doesn't eat well (more on that to come); he just doesn't seem to have as much energy or be his normal, happy, funny little self. We have moments where he is back to normal, but they are followed with whining or crying. I would chalk this all up to terrible twos, but that's just not it completely (although I'm sure it is part of it). He just isn't getting the sleep he needs! We have kind of been at a loss because we do not want him to expect us to sleep with him every night. If we knew we needed to for a couple of weeks and that was it, we would. But, we feel like we need to nip this in the bud now instead of prolonging it. So, after lots of reading, our next plan is to just be consistent. Well, we messed that up when we sporadically slept with him. But, we have gone back to set bedtime routines (we kind of got out of the habit with Grace's arrival) and trying to stay with set bedtimes (those were also getting later with reading books to him, so we now set a timer so he knows when reading time is over) and are not letting ourselves stay with him to sleep. By the way, that is hard to do. There is nothing sweeter than snuggling up with him to let him fall asleep, especially when he pats that pillow!
The last 3 nights, we have gone to him when he wakes up to tell him everything is ok and that he must go back to sleep and then we leave the room and do not come back. He eventually falls back to sleep, after more crying...that has lasted as long as an hour. We are hoping after a few nights, he will realize we are not staying with him and will just fall back asleep without crying for us. Fingers crossed! If he just self soothes and goes back to sleep, like he always has, then maybe he will get better sleep and sleep longer.
As far as eating, he is not doing that well either. He has always been a picky eater, but every day will at least eat his oatmeal, fruit, yogurt, applesauce and sandwich. But, now he barely touches those things. He eats a little cereal, some raisins, snacks of crackers and cheerios, maybe a little yogurt, but that is it. So, we know this also affects how much energy he has because has. Vic got him to eat a chicken strip last night after lots of attention and coaxing and we were so excited!
That brings us to another point; we know he gets enough attention, but we think he needs more right now. He loves Grace to pieces. That is when he is always happy; when he tickles her, brings her something, checks on her, kisses her. He loves her so much. So, we do not think he is jealous or dislikes her at all. But, we are thinking that he still senses this new part of his life and is reacting to it with the whining? We are not really sure. And because Grace is such an easy baby, he really gets just as much attention as he ever did.
So, we will see how things go. He has 2 1/2 weeks left at school but part of me wants to just keep him home now. I actually did keep him home yesterday because he was up so much the night before. And, I am keeping him home today but mainly just because we have mid-day doctor appointments. But, he has fun at school, so I may send him the rest of the time. Otherwise, our plan is to just stay consistent with him and try to know when he is tired vs. when he needs discipline. Who said parenting was easy? Oh wait - I don't think anyone did! :)
We are headed to his 2 year checkup today and will ask the doctor for any advice. Anyone else have any suggestions? We just want our little boy to get some rest so he can enjoy the hours he is awake!
I'll keep you all posted.
Sarah
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