Monday, April 07, 2008

Who replaced our son when we weren't looking?

Seriously. I'm not sure what has happened but the last few days with Monsieur Henry have been CHALLENGING. In a way that, up to this point, we had not experienced. It's like his internal clock has been wound up too tight and whoever was turning the dial ended up breaking springs on the inside. For example, we started the process of trying to get Henry to sleep around 7:45P.M. this evening. He was clearly sending us the "I'm exhausted and need to hit the sack" signals - slightly increased fussiness, rubbing of the eyes, yawning, and the like. So, we skipped his bath, covered his bum with his bedtime diapers, and I started nursing the little one to sleep. (That's how we do it at Life at the condo - magical boobs.) Fifteen minutes later, when Henry was quite possibly more awake than when we started our nighttime ritual, we went to join pops in the living room for a few more minutes of 'lying on the couch looking cute before the monster who needs sleep' reappears. When he (i.e., the monster) showed up about ten minutes later, H and I went back into bed for another round of magical boob serum. Fast forward an hour and Darr comes into the room to nudge me to see if I want to go to sleep or come out with him in the living room, presumably to watch Battlestar Galactica, our current favorite show on television. I'm thinking, "Sure. This baby is asleep now." So I detach the kid and head to the living room. Not three minutes later, Henry was up and crying for his parents, who are clearly the evilest of humans, having left him in the dark room alone. Wtf?

6 comments:

Amber said...

{Sigh.} This sounds so familiar... a tough week all around I guess.

Dessert?

:)

Christie said...

Yes, please. Where shall we meet. And should it be towards the end of the week so the children have time to rebound and we have time to sleep?

Dr. A said...

It must be in the air. Erin's been having the 2-am-wiggle dance party for a several nights now. Not to mention the hour-long-go-to-sleep routine (normally a 5-15 min affair) and the "I'm almost 6 months old, I don't need to nap" syndrome.
Maybe they're just too jazzed up by the world to sleep anymore.
The bags under their eyes are too big for carry-on.

Carrie said...

sounds like he's on the verge of sleep or another physical/emotional milestone.


with both my kids and from other parents, it would seem that the trend is that sleep is disruptive when going through transitions like teeth popping, walking/crawling, saying words/sentences or things of that nature. it would also appear that during the times of greatest growth (weight/height) that the babes tend to sleep more and/or eat more.


good luck and hang in there. try to be as consistent (consistAnt?) as you can, but reassure the little man you guys are NOT the evilness he thinks. :)

keep us posted, and hope this habits ends quick!

Anonymous said...

Amelia is going through the same thing. She now falls asleep and the second she is moved, she flails, yes throws herself around in anger and refuses to sleep. My mom said "payback is a bitch...."

Monika said...

Nils went through the exact same thing at that age. It was as if Mommy's milk all of a sudden lacked that valuable anesthetic. What worked, though, was to change his night-time ritual and to stop nursing him to sleep. From then on, I would still nurse him in the evening, but no longer in a secluded spot but with real life going on around him to stop him from falling asleep. Then we would get him ready for bed, we introduced a little night-time story, sang him his lullaby, and put him to bed (awake!). It took a while for him to learn how to fall asleep on his own - but believe me, it was worth it!
Hang in there!