Back to Sleep

Christian has pretty much always been a good sleeper, the first six months not being considered.  But what he has not been good at is falling asleep on his own after being woken up.  Especially in the middle of the night.  It became pretty much impossible once I weaned him.  If he woke up at night I would spend what felt like hours, sitting next to his bed, shushing and soothing him.  Then I would literally crawl out of the room on my hands and knees, while holding my breath.  Don't laugh, you know you've done it too.  This worked about half the time, the other half would find me back in his room, repeating the same ridiculous scenario.

This pattern leaked a little into our bed time routine.  I always tell the kids a story, then sing them a song, after I tuck them in.  I was having to back out of the room while I was still singing, then close the door as I said goodnight.  As soon as I left the room, Christian would start to yell after me, although he almost always quieted down within a few minutes, then fell asleep.  It worked, but was hardly the way I wanted to send my kids to bed.  Lately, everything has changed. 

I don't know exactly when I started, but I stopped going in the room when Christian woke up during the night.  I would stand in the doorway, and shush quietly and continuously until he was quiet.  That changed to standing in the doorway and calling softly to him that I was there.  Soon, I didn't even make it to the door before he had fallen back asleep.  The last few nights I have actually been able to go in his room, fix his covers, and kiss him, without causing a scene.  It's like magic.  Just now, when I put the kids to bed, I sang a little song, then kissed them each goodnight.  I snuggled Christian up, and said goodnight.  "Night night Mama.  Love you." he said with a smile on his face.  I left the room grinning in spite of my exhaustion.  Sometimes your hard work does, in fact, pay off.  And when it does, it is a beautiful thing.