It took quite a while for us to get Chanbe into some semblance of a routine around his sleeping habits. As I’ve mentioned before, the first year of Chanbe’s life was filled with constant battles around bedtime, and 2-3 hourly wake-ups every night until he was just over 1 year old. We worked very hard to make his bedtime a more enjoyable experience, and by March this year, we were at the stage where we could say “ni-night” or “nap time”, give him a kiss and cuddle, put him in his cot, and walk out of the room. We would hear noises sometimes but they were joyful noises of our son being content, talking himself to sleep.

It was bliss. Correction. It is bliss. For the last week, the little guy has not been 100%, with temperatures and general crankiness around the clock. And the last 3 nights, he has not wanted to go to sleep in his own bed. No matter what we did, no amount of encouragement would persuade him otherwise. So he has been sleeping with us. And I use the term “sleeping” very loosely. He’s been sleeping okay, but we haven’t. And I don’t want this to continue. I don’t want this to become a habit. I don’t want all of our hard work to go down the drain. I don’t want to go back to the nightly battles.

I know that when he is unwell, we have to make some allowances, but when you’re in the moment – when he’s been crying screaming for half an hour every time you leave him in his cot; when I’m in tears because I feel like he’s never going to sleep again; when Hubs has to take him for an hour long walk to get him to sleep just a little bit (which we haven’t done in I don’t know how long) – it’s hard to get perspective. I know that he’s out of his routine, but I also know that it’s not the end of the world. I know that once he starts to feel better, he’ll be happier in his own cot. I just don’t know how long that will take him. And I have to be okay with that. I need to let go just a little bit. Deeeeeeep breaths Wifey, deep breaths.

Chanbe in a happier mood. Actually, this was at lunch time today. It’s not all bad 🙂