Virtual Village

I need some help.

Once again our nights are filled with the dreaded pitter-patter of little feet. These feet usually end up slipping into my side of the bed and freezing my calfs as they try and warm up.

These same feet usually end up kicking me. I oblige and move over, as far as I can, but he follows. Sleep or awake Julian follows me like a shadow in bed, as I constantly move to get a slice on my own. Hugging and choking, kissing and hitting as he dreams.

We have tried taking him back to bed, in fact we did it last night. When my husband is sure he is asleep, Julian is carried and carefully put down and observed, to make sure he is really asleep.

My husband walks back to our bed, victorious.

Two seconds later we hear wails, from experience we know if the wails get any louder we are going to have two children awake.

What to do? What to do?

He is going through something, a stage, but he’s never been a good sleeper. He has had many of these stages throughout his life where we get him sorted and then it reverts. During the last stage my husband slept with him in his room on a blow up mattress. Our local baby helpline suggested it. He ended up sleeping through for a little while but my belief is that coincided with Leo moving to his own room and out of ours. He was then at peace not being the only one not in our room.

Now though he says he, “doesn’t want to be by himself” whether we are putting him down at night or trying to put him back during the night.

The odd occasion when he does sleep through these days is because I think he was so tired he didn’t wake up. I feel like he wakes up, realises he is by himself and looks for company.

We made a rod for our own back letting him into our bed in the first place but its happened now.

Now my blogger friend Mamacino wrote a beautiful post about how her “village” is helping her to raise her children.

What I need are some strategies and suggestions from my virtual village – you guys. I have a feeling our baby helpline is going to trot out the blow-up bed strategy again and my husband’s not into it. So I need another plan….

Preferably one that’s not going to wake the baby….

3 Comments

  1. The mattress strategy is our blow up bed strategy which worked but not for long, he does have a giraffe that he loves to sleep with (or did until he became a “big boy” but I will keep the big teddy idea in mind. Thanks for the sympathy xx

  2. Buy a Kingsize bed 🙂

    Seriously xxx

    Leo comes up to our bed every night at either 12.30pm or 3.30pm – you could set your watch by it. As soon as I hear him, I go and get him and put him in next to me where he falls back to sleep…the alternative is to fight with him for two hours, wake the girls and THEN put him in with me. I don’t know how to fix it or what to do…I’m just going on the knowledge that y about 3 1/2 the girls were sleeping fairly regularly in their own bed each night…only 1 1/2 years to go 🙂

    1. 3 1/2… by Christmas it will be bliss! Not quite at the end of my tether at the moment thanks to lots of relaxation and more sleep than I have had this year thanks to Leo but looking to get help for Jules to get a good nights rest. It can;t be good for him and obviously somethings bothering him enough to brave the pitch black walk down the corridor (he has a night light). I spoke to him today he says a bear snoring and being cold has woken him so I have gotten him a hot water bottle elephant that i am hoping will do both jobs 🙂 Protect and warm

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