Sleep Stories

Joe has not been going to sleep very well lately, for naps or at bedtime. Last night I went in the boys room to feed William and Joe finally stayed in bed long enough to fall asleep with me in the room. After about an hour and a half of trying other ways, I finally rocked him to sleep at nap time today. And tonight I lay next to his bed until he fell asleep. All three times I noticed he does something his dad does while falling asleep. They both twitch.

When Zach and I first got married this twitching definitely caught me off guard. It happens after their eyes have closed, their breathing is deep and even, and it seems like they are completely relaxed, then - twitch, and they resume their normal sleeping. Really, twitch might not be the word. Spasm, maybe? Whatever you want to call it, Joe seems to have inherited it from his daddy.

I never wanted our kids to come sleep with us at night. I love to cuddle, but I didn't want it to ever become a habit, and I wanted to get good sleep. Well, the last couple of weeks it has become a habit with Joe. I'm can't pinpoint the exact occasion, but I think it was just one night when he was scared or something and both Zach and I were too tired to put him back in bed, so we just had him crawl in with us. On second thought, I remember the specific occasion, because I remember bringing Will in the bed too, at his early morning feeding (5am ish). I really quite enjoyed that one morning, all cozy in our queen bed with my three boys. Not so much now. I would like to get some better rest, and not wake to Joe's voice, or bony appendages poking me in the middle of the night.

Last night was our first real attempt to break the habit. Zach took him back to bed first, and stayed with him for a little while. I think he even sang him a song, I was not awake enough to notice, but I think he mentioned it this morning. Then Joe got up again and I put him back in bed and stayed with him for a little while. I got back in bed only to hear Joe at our doorway again. "Get back in bed Joe." I was too lazy to get out of bed again. A while later Will wakes and I go to feed him. On the way I trip over Joe in our doorway, asleep. Poor guy. I guess we made progress?