Maddox has been having trouble sleeping at night if he is not very near Vida. It has pretty much always been this way with his daytime naps but it’s new for nighttime. It’s gotten so that he wakes up every hour or two pretty much all night long and will cry until Vida gets him back to sleep… For another hour or two. We end up giving in and bringing him into our bed in the wee hours every night where he will sleep for longer stretches.
Sleeping difficulties are common and part of being a parent, but it’s gotten to a point where we had to break the cycle or none of us were going to get a good night’s sleep again! Â So, last night we decided Vida would refrain from going into his room to soothe him after first putting him to bed and I would try to get him to sleep myself. Â We knew it would not be easy.
Maddox was very worked up and crying fiercely for over an hour with me going in to try to soothe him frequently. Â Most of what I did had little effect at first but gradually he started to calm down a bit and would occasionally be quiet for a moment to listen to my off-key singing of made-up lullabies. Â His crying didn’t stop completely for awhile, but it drifted into sobs with occasional whimpers and cries, and then eventually he did fall asleep in my arms with his head on my shoulder.
It was a ‘success’ in that I managed to get him to sleep, but it’s always hard to see your little one so upset. Â It was a bit of an ordeal for both of us, and it made me feel even closer to him. Â As I comforted my baby and tried to soothe his cries for his Mother, it made me also miss her even though I knew she was right in the other room. Â His emotions just run right to his core and they pour out of him uncontrollably and you can’t help but feel them as well.