Thursday, April 10, 2008

Sleep Struggles

Sleep. If anybody has some, I need it — for me and for Miles. We are nearing the end of spring break and are starting to slip back into our regular routines so that next week won’t be a mess. That includes Miles sleeping in his own bed in his own room. For the past several months sleeping at night has been a struggle for Miles. He gets scared and wants to sleep in Milan’s room. Milan on the other hand isn’t scared of squat, loves to sleep and only wants him in there when she feels like staying up to play. That’s my girl.

Anyway, Miles came out of his room more than ten times last night. He had to pee and poop at least five times. He was hot, he itched, and had a host of other problems that never surface in Milan’s room. Although, I am very sympathetic to how he feels – I was that child that got scared in the middle of the night and called my mother, too – I don’t want to enable his fears. We’ve been through long talks, sleeping with the lights on, and checking the closet and under the bed. Husband even gave him a little toy baseball bat to help him feel safe and none of it has really done the trick. He’s got to learn to trust that he is safe in his own bed and that mommy and daddy are here to protect him.

Miles is a smart one and I know he has a plan. See, he knows how much I love to get my sleep at night and figures if he disrupts me enough, I’ll give in and let him go back to Milan’s room. Not that that has ever happened before, ahem, but I’m sure he thinks it will work. Not this time. I really want to help my baby conquer his fear so I’m in this for the long haul – sleep or no sleep.

I’ve promised him that he can have his friend, Cameron, come for a sleepover, but he has to be able to sleep in his room by himself first. He’s really excited about it, so hopefully that will speed up the process. Until then, I’ll be sympathetically standing my ground for the greater good of a full night sleep. Suggestions and sob stories are always welcome…

Sleepy Winks,
Wifey

2 comments:

Sarah@Life in the Parsonage said...

Hang in there! I've often thought of having the Super Nanny come and get our 2 year old to bed!

Unknown said...

Super Nanny might run out of my house screaming - smiles! Hopefully tonight will be better.