I've been a broken record discussing Leila's inability to go to sleep, to stay asleep, etc. She has been like this since she was about two weeks old. As a newborn she would only sleep in good chunks of time if she was on me or at least touching me. We have come back to that sort of lifestyle with her. Since Christmas sleep with Leila has been a roller coaster again. And, more recently, the last two months straight have proven to be very hard on her in the rest category.
In fact, something just has to be causing this and I wish I could figure it out because I just don't think it's typical for a child to be so under-rested. Austin and I have agreed to just go with it and give her what she needs, which 98% of the time is me. We've laid with her at bed time, we've let her crawl into bed with us, we take her back to bed in the middle of the night and stya with her. She just has no problem going to sleep if I'm next to her and in the middle of the night, she'll even be content with Austin. But, she can't stay asleep through the night for the life of her.
She doesn't wake up in terrors, but for several reasons we do think she's afraid of something. For weeks, we've made very conscientious efforts to help provide confidence to and security for her. We've banned all discussion of ghosts and monsters (Grandpa Cable still doesn't listen, so I create the boundaries for her) and we talk a lot about how strong and loving we four Cables are. Even if it hasn't helped her to stay asleep at night, this all has helped to bond us emotionally.
The saying about having no guide book is certainly cliche for a reason since so many parents just would do anything to help a child out if they just knew what to do. We even took her to the doctor a couple of times so rest assured the girl is not over-sugared or suffering from some kind of bizarre ailment.
In fact, after another check-in with the doctor yesterday, he convinced me to do something I just didn't and haven't wanted to do, but I knew that we had to try to help her get the sleep she needs--developmentally, emotionally, physically. And, Little Leila slept all night last night, came into my bed at 7 a.m. and then slept for two more hours. In fact, she's even napping now. (which we all know that under-rested kiddos have an even harder time napping and sleeping than rested kids do) Here's hoping this is a short-lived phase, but right now, I'm completely grateful to some old fashioned Melatonin.
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