When Sleep Desperation Kicks In

After a week of Miles waking up nearly every hour of the night I was beyond tired.  And Desperate.  Nothing sounded so good as a dark quiet screaming free night.  One that would hopefully included sleep.  I would have taken quiet so long as my sleepless nights didn't include him waking up screaming in my ear for various reasons.  Bad dreams, new teeth, developmental milestones (he's working on walking!), constipation, snuffly nose.  You name it, he was probably dealing with it.  Well, not just him, but Phil and I as well.  You know the nighttime noise level is bad when it wakes Phil up.  That man can sleep through the apocalypse and not notice.

I bemoaned to my friend about what to do.  Knowing that we are non traditional in our sleep accommodations she suggested the pack and play.  Maybe he just needed some space?  That had crossed my mind as well.  However, bending over and doing a dead weight lift in the middle of the night sounded as unhealthy as it did unpleasant.  The first night we tried a feather quilt on the floor, but that didn't offer enough touchable boundaries and he freaked out.  Then I had the brilliant idea of stealing the toddler bed away from Wesley.  We had used it once before to help Wesley transition out of our bed and into his own while pregnant with Miles, perhaps it would work again this time?  This is the earliest I've ever started moving a child out of our bed.  But desperate times call for some sort of action, right?

If you can imagine a 5'8" lady curled up nursing a 30" toddling baby, then you can envision what has been happening in this tiny bed.  I have decided that at this season of life I can nurse him to sleep, and then back to sleep once again, after that Miles can crawl up in our bed and snuggle next to us.  This has allowed me to get a few hours of the precious (quiet and touch free) sleep that I've been needing, but the closeness and security that Miles craves.

What did we do for Wesley?  A month ago this wouldn't have been an issue, he would have just slept in the closet nook.  However, since that's been dismantled and reconverted back to it's former closet glory, that option was out.  The kid probably would have been perfectly happy to have a sleeping bag, but to appease my concerns we set up a camping cot for him.  He has been on cloud nine.  He takes good care to ensure his blankets and pillows are arranged just right.  The cot has also been a wonderful new imagination spot.  Yesterday he figured out that he can drape the blankets down over the side and have a fort.  The cot has also become a puppet theater and a hideout from the lions.  Last night, true to form of our children and their odd sleep behaviors, Wesley slept underneath the bed instead of on it.  I now am waiting for the children to discover that they can tip the cot on the side and hide behind it and have snowball fights with socks, or something to that sort of endeavor.

This has reinforced the fact of life that I constantly forget.  Life is fluid, and what works changes as time progresses.  How long will this work?  Maybe last night was the last time that Miles will sleep in that little bed for many months.  Perhaps it will become the new normal. What I can guarantee is that we all have to adapt (especially me) and find what works best for the here and now.