I’ll try anything at this point

Unless you’re living under a rock, you know (if you’re reading this) that we’ve been struggling with Edwin’s transition to a big boy bed for about 3 1/2 weeks now.  And actually, for about two weeks prior to the switch, his sleeping had become erratic.  The whole situation has been very frustrating considering he used to be the best sleeper!! 

Last night was my breaking point.  Ed is out of town visiting his family in Ohio and helping his brother build a house (yes, my husband can build houses).  He’s gone for a week and last night was the first night I had to do the bedtime routine on my own.  Let’s just say it didn’t go well.  It took me more than an hour to get him to sleep…and then I spent the next 45 minutes crying because I felt like a horrible mom – not to mention the raging pregnancy hormones and lack of sleep mixed in…

The rest of the evening didn’t go much better.  Edwin fell asleep at 9pm.  I went to bed at 10:30, and he was awake by 11:20.  It took me another 20 minutes to get him back to sleep….but then he woke up at 1am.  This time I just had to put him back in his bed.  However…at 2am he woke up yet AGAIN because of the stupid thunderstorm.  Since he’s terrified of the rain, I knew it was a losing battle, so I put his fold-out Elmo couch on the floor next to my bed and he slept there….with just a few minor wake-ups the rest of the night.

Let’s just say that there were some more tears on my part this morning at work because I was so tired!!!  Finally at my wit’s end, I called the pediatrician’s office.  The nurse was so sweet and understanding and encouraging.  She told me that we were doing everything right – staying consistent, not letting him sleep with us (or sleeping in his bed either), not giving him attention in the middle of the night…She said that in most cases, it wouldn’t take this long to resolve the problems.  However, since he’s gone more than a month without a good night of sleep, he’s ridiculously overtired.  That means his body won’t allow him to sleep through the night or take good naps or act like his usual happy self.  (He’s also been waaaaay over-the-top cranky).  So she prefaced her advice by saying “Usually I wouldn’t recommend this, but in your case….” and then proceeded to tell me what to do.  She said in this instance, it might be a good idea to sleep in his room for a few nights.  Not in the bed with him, but on an air mattress on the floor next to him. That way if he wakes up, he’ll go right back to sleep because mommy is there.  After a few nights, he should get used to sleeping the whole night in his bed again…and eventually, I can return to the comfort of my own bed.

So I went to Target today and purchased my “Addendum to the Big Boy Bed”….also known as a twin size air mattress since that’s all that we have room for.  Lovely to think Edwin gets his comfy full-size bed while preggo mommy sleeps on the twin size blow up bed.  Ahhh…what I wouldn’t do for my kid.

If you spend any time at all with God, I’m going to ask for prayer – please pray that Edwin will finally get a good night of sleep (me too!) and that his body will adjust once again to sleeping through the night.  And please pray that the Holy Spirit will fill me with the gift of self-control because I certainly can’t do it on my own.  I’ll let you know how it goes :)

And because all blog posts are better with a picture….