Adventures in Slumberland

A long, long time ago, there was a boy named Joshua who could sleep through anything.

And I, his mother, used to be the queen of Cry It Out. You know, I would put my sweet little cherub to bed each night and though he would cry in protest at first, I would never waver. Having read multiple books, magazine articles, and heard of countless friends with less resolve whose children sleep in their bed with them, I was bound and determined to let my son cry it out. All the experts seem to be in agreement - it's best for a child to learn how to soothe themselves to sleep rather than constantly returning to comfort them and then they learn to cry long and loud enough and Mommy will return.

NOT ME. No, I have an iron will.

Or at least, I had one. For the first 17 months of his life, Josh slept like a champion. Even if he would cry himself to sleep, he would sleep 12 hours like clockwork from the time he went to sleep to the time he would wake up. And sometimes, he would even sleep longer. I'm telling you, this child is amaaaazzing.

That being said, nobody's perfect. Josh turned 18 months old a couple of weeks ago, and right around that time, he would go to sleep with no problem but would wake several times during the night, fussing and crying, sometimes HOWLING. I assumed he was probably teething (again!) and would rock and comfort him and give him some ibuprofen. He would calm right down as soon as I came in and picked him up. But the second I would put him down, he would SCREAM bloody murder and sometimes it would take him an hour to calm back down and fall asleep.

This happened for about a week and a half off and on and I didn't know what to do. Weary, haggard and feeling pretty helpless, I took Josh to his regularly scheduled 18 month old appointment. I regaled the doctor with our night saga and he checked Josh thoroughly. No new teeth coming in, no fluid in the ears. Nothing.

Baffled, I asked the doctor what I should do. He looked at me with a glimmer in his eye and said, "You're going to have to let him cry it out, Mom. He's a big boy now."

WHAAATTT???! Did he mean to tell me that I was being had by my sweet, innocent baby boy?! ME?! Didn't he even know who I am? Or was? Hello, doc! It's me, the QUEEN.

Not knowing what else to do, I took my boy home and followed the doctor's advice. Night one: Josh woke crying once, for about 1 minute and then fell back asleep. I let him cry and didn't worry about it. Night two: Josh woke crying for about 30 seconds and fell back asleep. I held my ground. Nights three through six: Josh sleeps soundly through the night again.

Which means that I sleep through the night again too. Whew.

I'm so happy to have my boy back to normal. And so relieved there is nothing physically wrong with him. And so happy to once again have full reign of my kingdom, Slumberland. It's going to take a lot more than some feeble cries to remove me from power next time. Muahahahhaaha!