To Sleep, To Sleep Perchance to Dream, or Not

 I can honestly say that I have not had a decent night's sleep in three weeks. It all started with a cold, that lead to an ear infection, that lead to my son's crying in the middle of the night, that lead straight to my bed. And, now that his ear is just fine, he is still waking up in the middle of the night crying and wanting to snuggle up next to mom and dad. Problem is, he is not a friendly bedfellow, and I usually end up with half of my pillow off of the bed, and my body barely skirting a drop to the floor - which at this point would probably be more comfortable! What can I do to stop this before it becomes the night and the day of the living dead-tired at my house?

Well, according to the experts, I have made a classic parenting mistake - like I couldn't figure that one out! I allowed his ear infection to disrupt his sleep habits, and now he has made new ones that he likes better. So, in a way, I have to start over and recreate the healthy sleep habits that we had before he was sick.

Toddlers need anywhere from 10 to 12 hours of sleep per night, plus a 1.5 to 3 hour nap in the afternoon. And, by now they should be able to drift off to sleep by themselves. If not, that is the first place to start. If a child is relying on external cues in order to fall asleep, such as rocking or listening to music, then when the child wakes up and is no longer being rocked or hearing music, he will wonder why, and will be roused. Create a new bedtime routine that involves putting your child down while he is sleepy, but not yet asleep. I read two to three books, and I always end with Goodnight Moon, but this is an area to do what works best for you. Just remember that children need to be parented to sleep, not put to sleep according to experts. At this age, you can also begin communicating to your child how long you are going to stay with them. It is a good idea to stay for shorter and shorter amounts of time, than it is to leave for greater and greater amounts of time.

If, like me, your child goes to sleep, but won't stay asleep - do your best to avoid the temptation that has me currently snared. Go to your child, and let her know that you are there. You can comfort your child, but don't pick her up. Talk softly and say comforting things for a few minutes and then leave. If she continues to cry, then come back in progressively longer intervals. Hopefully, it won't take too long before she will drift back to sleep. However, if you have created a bad habit as I have, or if you have a particularly tenacious child, it could be several long nights in a row. Also, if for some reason your child who normally sleeps through the night wakes up, be sure that there is not something else going on - they could have hurt themselves, be ill, or need to be changed. Either way, you don't need to rush to his side if he is simply stirring, but a full on cry needs to be checked out, just in case.

Well, I am sitting here trying to get up the energy to go through what has the potential to be several long nights in a row. My nights are long now, but require no energy from me to be so. I can only hope that my nighttime investment will yield quick returns, because I am starting to look as tired as I feel.