People mysteriously laugh (cackle, howl, etc.) when you are expecting a child and mention how you don’t expect much sleep once the bundle of joy arrives. What they FAIL TO EXPLAIN (and you fail to expect) is that it is not just the first few months that you can expect to go without sleep. No, once you pass one sleep hurdle, another is just beyond the horizon. And they come again and again and again, and they will absolutely kick your ass every time.
Charlie seems to be on the wrong side of the curve when it comes to sleep. I guess something had to give, considering he is the most brilliant, handsome, funny, and lovable boy EVER. Just when you think you have got it, BAM. Something happens. Won’t go down at night. Won’t go down for a nap. You fix it? Heck, something else is coming right up!
We have come to a somewhat uneasy peace on getting him to go down by himself. He would like nothing better than either sleeping with Mama and Dada in their bed (queen-sized, not big enough for 3, if that includes a wiggly toddler) or Mama and Dada sleeping in HIS bed (toddler-sized, definitely not big enough for an (overgrown) adult. He was sleeping until at least 6 for the most part.
In the past, if he woke up in the middle of the night, he’d toddle in, climb into our bed, and go right back to sleep. Which is totally do-able. But now? He wakes up around 2-4, stays awake for at least an hour, keeping Mama and Dada up for at least an hour and a half. It’s a killer.
Part of me thinks that if I let him “cry it out” once or twice, we’d be fine. But doing that with a five month old infant is nowhere near as hard as hearing your two year old cry “Mama” sadly over and over and OVER again. I just can’t do it.
He is also doing this terrible twos stuff during the day, so Mama definitely needs her rest at night. There is not a whole lot of energy left for patience, running, cleaning, yoga, etc.
I am sure that eventually we’ll get past this. Only to face another sleep hurdle down the road. Fortunately for Charlie, we are pretty darn attached to that lovable face. Otherwise, he might be shipped off to Grammy on a permanent basis.
