This last week, on Saturday night in fact, Steven started acting weird at bedtime. As in, Screaming at the top of his lungs for 4 and a half hours. He would calm down if I went in and rocked with him, but he wouldn't fall asleep. He would just sit, cuddle up to me and lay there wide awake. The fact that he was cuddling with me was what really let me know something was wrong, because he is NOT a cuddler. He was acting afraid to be in his bed alone. He has always laid down better for Matt than for me (Matt was of course at a work meeting until midnight this night) so I figured that if Matt laid him down it would solve the problem. It sort of worked. Steven was still screaming when Matt got home, so Matt got him calmed down and he finally went to sleep. But he was awake again after three or four hours. So Matt went and laid with him in the twin bed that we put up in Steven's room. Steven sleeps in the crib and the twin bed is for his cousins to use taking naps. As Matt was sleeping with Steven through the wee hours of the morning, he said that Steven would jolt awake about every 20 minutes, waking Matt as well. He would be about to start to cry so Matt would touch him and he would calm down and go back to sleep. A couple times, Steven's jolt didn't wake Matt so Steven would reach out until he found Matt's face, then he would calm down and go back to sleep. We think he was having nightmares, but we don't know about what or why he had them every time he went back to sleep. (There was a small incident with a life size talking witch the Tuesday before in Smith's but that was three days before the nightmares started) As a result of this he didn't sleep very well at naps either for a couple of days. The next night Matt was talking to Steven about going to bed and he really didn't want to sleep in the crib. He seemed okay with the idea of sleeping in the Big Boy Bed though. So we borrowed My sister-In-laws baby monitor and tried the big boy bed on Monday night. ( I told Matt that there was no way I was going to put him in the big boy bed without a way to hear him well from our room. We can only hear him if he screams or cries without a monitor) I was having visions of him getting out of the bed and playing with all of his toys and roaming the house in the night. I listened to the monitor all night, while I was awake, and waited for the sound of toys or doors opening but it never happened. He slept through the entire night! When he woke up in the morning, I listened to him talking from his room for about 5 minutes then decided to go and get him. He was still sitting on the bed! He did really well with his nap in the big bed too!
When I got him up, I was talking to him about sleeping in the crib and sleeping in the bed. Every time I mentioned him sleeping in the crib he would move away from it and start to panic a little. I guess after the nightmares, waking up and being confined is just too much for him. I wasn't quite ready for him to reach this level of big boyness yet, but oh well. As long as he stays in the bed, I am ok with it. It just makes me a little sad how quickly he is growing up. Maybe I am naive or just not paying attention but it seems that these major milestones keep sneaking up on me and Steven has to tell me "Hey Mom, I'm ready for this"!
This last week, on Saturday night in fact, Steven started acting weird at bedtime. As in, Screaming at the top of his lungs for 4 and a half hours. He would calm down if I went in and rocked with him, but he wouldn't fall asleep. He would just sit, cuddle up to me and lay there wide awake. The fact that he was cuddling with me was what really let me know something was wrong, because he is NOT a cuddler. He was acting afraid to be in his bed alone. He has always laid down better for Matt than for me (Matt was of course at a work meeting until midnight this night) so I figured that if Matt laid him down it would solve the problem. It sort of worked. Steven was still screaming when Matt got home, so Matt got him calmed down and he finally went to sleep. But he was awake again after three or four hours. So Matt went and laid with him in the twin bed that we put up in Steven's room. Steven sleeps in the crib and the twin bed is for his cousins to use taking naps. As Matt was sleeping with Steven through the wee hours of the morning, he said that Steven would jolt awake about every 20 minutes, waking Matt as well. He would be about to start to cry so Matt would touch him and he would calm down and go back to sleep. A couple times, Steven's jolt didn't wake Matt so Steven would reach out until he found Matt's face, then he would calm down and go back to sleep. We think he was having nightmares, but we don't know about what or why he had them every time he went back to sleep. (There was a small incident with a life size talking witch the Tuesday before in Smith's but that was three days before the nightmares started) As a result of this he didn't sleep very well at naps either for a couple of days. The next night Matt was talking to Steven about going to bed and he really didn't want to sleep in the crib. He seemed okay with the idea of sleeping in the Big Boy Bed though. So we borrowed My sister-In-laws baby monitor and tried the big boy bed on Monday night. ( I told Matt that there was no way I was going to put him in the big boy bed without a way to hear him well from our room. We can only hear him if he screams or cries without a monitor) I was having visions of him getting out of the bed and playing with all of his toys and roaming the house in the night. I listened to the monitor all night, while I was awake, and waited for the sound of toys or doors opening but it never happened. He slept through the entire night! When he woke up in the morning, I listened to him talking from his room for about 5 minutes then decided to go and get him. He was still sitting on the bed! He did really well with his nap in the big bed too!
When I got him up, I was talking to him about sleeping in the crib and sleeping in the bed. Every time I mentioned him sleeping in the crib he would move away from it and start to panic a little. I guess after the nightmares, waking up and being confined is just too much for him. I wasn't quite ready for him to reach this level of big boyness yet, but oh well. As long as he stays in the bed, I am ok with it. It just makes me a little sad how quickly he is growing up. Maybe I am naive or just not paying attention but it seems that these major milestones keep sneaking up on me and Steven has to tell me "Hey Mom, I'm ready for this"!
1 comment:
He is growing up fast.
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