Missing Our Sleep

One thing that sends our happy little home into a tailspin is lack of sleep. Ben and I can function at an OK level on less sleep, but what we have noticed with Harrison is that sleep is crucial. If he doesn't get enough sleep, we all feel it in his behavior and actions. And while HD has been a great night sleeper since the age of 7 months or so, naps have always been a challenge. Now that we have switched from a crib to a toddler bed, the magnitude and impact of that challenge are astounding.

We toyed with the idea of changing his bed back in September. Now I'm wishing we had, but instead we opted to keep the crib for the sake of keeping at least one place in the house where he could be contained. Well, containment goes right out the window when your two-year-old learns to instantly, silently, and constantly escape from his crib. Then the crib rails just become a hazard.

Ben is taking two days off this week to be home with us and I was so looking forward to our little four day weekend as a family of four. While some parts of the weekend have been great and others just fine, the afternoons have been beyond trying and exhausting. We all need sleep. I'm tired from being up nursing during the night and Ben is feeling this too as Raegan is in our room and he helps with the diaper changes that are required to keep her awake and nursing. We would both love an afternoon nap. But Harrison has had other ideas and on Saturday Ben had to spend an hour putting HD back in his crib every 30 seconds because that is how fast he was flipping out. Once he stayed put he never did sleep. Later that day we converted the crib to the toddler bed and thought we were in good shape when Harrison went to bed and stayed put right out of the gate.

Actually, the last two nights of going to bed have been fine. He has woken up once each night and started crying, sounding very scared in his room, so Ben has gone in (both times I've been nursing) and put him back down for the rest of the night. I worry a little bit that this will turn into a game or ploy to get one of us in there for mid-night attention, but for now I feel like he needs that reassurance and comfort. The real issue, at this point, is the total lack of naps.

Yesterday Harrison spent his entire "nap" time banging on the door to his room and hollering. Today started much the same and just when we thought the quiet and sleep had come, he started making noise and crying because he had a dirty diaper. So here we sit, again, listening to him bang around in his room.

Nap cannot disappear. It just can't. That used to be my only time during the day for myself and now it is my only time during the day to focus on just one kiddo. Plus Harrison's behavior and attitude are way better when his day includes some day sleep. We have done more time outs in the lat 48 hrs. than you might think possible and I know lack of sleep is a big part of this. So what do we do? Our tired and foggy brains are at a loss. Everyone keeps telling me that this too shall pass, but right now I'm not so sure that my sanity won't just go with it.