In the past, when Maxfield would wake up in the middle of the night, depending on the type of cry, Lauren and I would decide whether to go to him or not. Most times we would wait it out and he would calm down and fall back to sleep.
Lately Max has been waking up on the wrong side of the clock. 4:00-ish. He is getting older now so it is becoming a bit more difficult to determine what his cries actually mean. We try to let it the crying pass. I hope that he will find his pacifier or Elmo or Murphy the stuffed Monkey and will settle back into the crib and back to sleep. But in the middle of his cries I can’t help but wonder if maybe he is having a nightmare.
I try to fight the urge to go to him, but I always feel bad, that maybe he needs to be comforted. It breaks my heart thinking that maybe he is scared, or he thinks that we abandoned him. When I was young and I would have nightmares I would sleep on my parent’s floor. Just knowing that they were there always made me better.
Max is almost two. At what age are there monsters in closet, or ghosts under the bed?
I would like to thank everyone who has voted in the BoB awards (Best of Blogs). I am not sure how long the voting lasts so if you have not voted please go and do so. The voting is only one portion of the criteria to win. They will also be scoring on content and grammar (I should have listened to Mrs. Dunn my highschool english teacher). There are some great blogs nominated in different categories that you may not have seen before. The site is worth checking out to find new favorites to read.
I will be busy over the next few days, but my wife, Lauren, has agreed to fill in for me with a post or two and I think the Lawn Whisperer has also agreed to fill in for a day.
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Best Iced Coffee
Bucks Iced
Best Iced Coffee
Posts
Google Adds
Links
Blog Archive
-
▼
2006
(252)
-
▼
January
(28)
- Trimming down
- What to expect
- Note to self....
- Universal Fun
- Milestone
- Reality TV
- Bun in the oven
- Cycle
- Parenting Tip by Lauren
- See My Thumb?
- Dipper or Scooper
- Stormy Weather (That Darn Cat)
- Doesn't it suck....
- Mr. Sandman
- Child Proof
- Smooches
- Love is a Battlefield
- Things that go Bump in the day.
- Is there something wrong.....
- Flipped
- Not the Same
- Cold Snap
- Dinner Man
- Bill, This is Bill.
- I am not a good "bad cop"
- Mocking See Mocking Do
- Melts In Your Mouth.
- I will not write about it again...after this one.
-
▼
January
(28)
12 comments:
My son when he was about that age started with the "night terrors" and would just freak out and scream in this sort of paniced voice. Always scared me.....one time we found him trying to get out the front door-(rustling of the locks etc) but he was completely asleep.
After that i turned the monitor up louder...scared me to death. he finally outgrew it when he was about 3 or so.
Good luck.....
My son is younger, but we also try to let him calm himself, but I always feel the same way...I never know whether to get him or not!
Bill, I am 36 and still believe that there are monsters under the bed and in the closet. When my kids get scared I do the only thing I know how, I jump in bed with them and we pull the covers over our head.
Punkin was the only one of our kids to have night terrors, and that was only when we had rearranged her room to accommodate Sweet Pea's arrival. Apparently, there was something about the room set up that disturbed her. We moved it around again a couple of weeks later, and she's been fine since then.
It is hard to tell a nightmare sometimes. Sweet Pea has a very hard time getting to sleep sometimes. Whenever she cries in protest, it is SO hard not to go up there and cuddle with her.
If he has bad nightmares, you'll still be able to tell by the cries. Don't beat yourself up. He's still at the age where he can get used to you getting him up at 4 a.m. and keep doing it until he graduates college.
I voted for you over the weekend..I was hoping it wasn't too late (I just found out about it ~ I'm always a little late in the game)
Usually when the two year molars are coming in that messes with the sleep habits. Change the nap time to an earlier part of the day and he will sleep better at night. (I don't know why that helps but it does) Before bed, check and see if his gums are sore looking (swelling and/or redish) and give him some motrin if they are. If not... I can't know. :P
Lois Lane
(((HUGS))) I have the same worries now, and our daughter is only 7 months old. It's so hard to balance being there for them and helping them learn to calm themselves.
Time for some unsolicited advice, 'cause I know you were just hoping for some.
If you haven't checked out the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Marc Weissbluth it's fantastic. With a new kiddo on the way the cost of the book will be well worth it.
(end unsolicited advice)
No help from me - I can't stand to hear the baby cry so whether or not to go to her is never a debate. Such a wimp.
I hate the unexplained crying too. It's heartbreaking. Especially the big fat tears that accompany it and the racking sobs that make their whole bodies move. I think we have a scale in our heads. If it feels like he can't come out of it - we go help him. If it's just a wee bit, we let him work it out alone. To help myself, I imagine he's just frustrated that he woke and is whining/crying in frustration that he can't fall back asleep easily. Kind of like I would if I was awake and couldn't get back to sleep. And Dan wasn't next to me. Telling me to pipe down.
I go on volume, pitch, and durration. If any of these three are escalating for more than about 10 seconds I will go. Then I am with LawnWhisperer - except we crawl in my bed and pull the covers over all three of us (or more - I have 4 kids, OK?). Anyhow, I don't mind sacrificing some sleep or some room on the bed for my little ones.
Post a Comment