Back to Sleeping All Night!

Jack has recently decided he'd really rather sleep in bed with Mommy and Daddy. We have never done the co-sleeping thing with him. It's not that we're opposed to it, but I get zero sleep when he's in bed with us. Several times in his short life, he's decided to wake up in the middle of the night and cry for us and we've let him cry it out. It typically takes one or two nights for him to "reset" and go back to sleeping all night.

This time was a bit different. Now that he can get out of bed AND open the door, he was coming out of his room every hour starting at 11:00 to come in our room. He would stand at the side of our bed and cry. When I put him back in bed (which meant I had to get up every hour as well), he would scream for 5 minutes and then go back to sleep. It was becoming exhausting. For a couple of nights, I put a blanket and pillow on the floor beside our bed and he slept there just fine. It seems proximity was the issue. However, I didn't want to start a habit that would likely last several years. It was time for a better solution.

My husband suggested we lock Jack's door, but I wasn't comfortable with not being able to get to him right away. I decided to try one of those safety doorknob covers just on the inside of his door. It may sound cruel to essentially lock him in his room, but our experience has been that if he realizes he HAS to go back to his bed, he does with very little protest.

Night before last I put the doorknob cover on the door and planned to go "rescue" him if I heard his scared or panicked cry. He woke up at 11:00, tried the doorknob,whined for about 5 minutes, and then...he went back to sleep! Woohoo...success! He woke up again at about 3:00, did the same thing, and went back to sleep. Last night, he slept all night without waking up at all!

Why, do you say, is this blogworthy news? Folks, I never knew how much I needed sleep until I didn't get much anymore. Each time we have a setback, I'm reminded of how much I need my sleep to be a good Mommy, wife, coworker, friend, etc. Each time we overcome a sleep setback, I am just as thrilled as the first time Jack slept through the night...it's the little things :)