11 and 5

Remember the 10 and 2 directions for holding the steering wheel? Evidently it is now 9 and 3 with the advent of airbags. 11 and 5, however, is just bad driving, and it is even worse as a pattern of waking up and screaming by my son. Nevertheless, he has fallen into this pattern for no apparent reason. He is fed, changed, rested, and everything else that should indicate a full night’s sleep.

After three or four nights of this, he skipped the 5 o’clock wake up, and his earlier one was closer to midnight. I held him for a while, changed him for good measure, and put him back down. He screamed for a few more minutes before falling back asleep.

Something is bouncing around his neurons at night. As tiring and frustrating it is to have an inconsolable child in the middle of the night, I imagine it is even worse being the inconsolable child.

Night Terrors

Yes, they were terrors last night. Both my son and daughter woke up at different times screaming their heads off. Having procrastinated and got to be late, this was a real challenge.

First my son woke us all up at 2:00 AM. I went in to settle him down, but he would not respond to anything. He flailed so hard that I almost dropped him, and a diaper change only made him scream louder. His body was rigid with the emotion he was feeling. After futile attempts and as my daughter started to build up steam to join him, I switched tactics and took her to our guest room so that she could settle down and get some sleep. By the time I returned, he had quieted down. In the morning, I found that he had a massive diaper, so his G.I. tract was probably the culprit.

Then at 4:00, my daughter came back upstairs. She was crying and getting louder. Fearing she would wake my son who continued to grunt and whine occasionally through the night, I pulled her into bed, and she snuggled down between me and my wife. Not much sleep to be had with her kicking me in the back.

At 5:45, I got up as my son started his morning wake up routine. I wanted to avoid him waking up my wife and daughter. Needless to say, today was challenging. Luckily it is one of my days at home; unluckily it is one of my full day solo parenting days. I did manage to walk the half hour there and back to drop off my daughter at school and again at pick up time. I even went to the pool this evening after getting the kids to bed for a quick swim. I am finally feeling somewhat human.

I really hope they sleep tonight.