Oh Sleeper...

Ever since Callen started really teething, his sleeping patterns have been completely out of whack!  There were a few months in the beginning when he slept great... would wake up once a nite, nurse, go right back to sleep.  It was beautiful!  Then, the teeth started decending and all heck broke loose.  And he's going on 11 months now, he still wakes up three-four times a nite and wants to nurse.  But the worst thing is that I CAN'T GET HIM TO LAY DOWN IN HIS BED!  Rawr!

He will fall asleep in my arms or while nursing, but the minute I release him onto his mattress, he pops up and screams. We have tried all kinds of different ways to lay him down after he's fallen asleep, and it almost always ends in epic fail.  He can be completely knocked out, but the moment you're not touching him anymore.... WAAAAAAAA!  So for the last few weeks, bedtime has been quite a feat.  I've tried letting him "cry it out" but he never seems to stop.  One nite, he went on for 2.5 hours.  TWO AND A HALF HOURS OF SCREAMING, ya'll!  I can't take that, and he was a hiccuping, gasping mess.  I really don't know what to do... there's got to be some way to get him to sleep OUT OF MY ARMS, because I can't hold him all nite!  I have tried to hold him or let him sleep in our bed a few nites, but man... he's a kicker and a squirmer, and I wake up nearly paralyzed with cricks and aches.  And poor Michael, doesn't get much sleep then has to get up at 6am and go off to work. 

I blame the recall of all those drop-down side cribs.  You practically have to drop your baby to get them on their mattress without them, and I dunno... maybe he doesn't care for the freefall into his bed every nite, thus the screaming.  But seriously, getting kind of fed up and EXHAUSTED at the same 'ole thing every nite.  Please, baby head, just sleep... peacefully, in your own bed, allllll nite.  That's all I ask!

P.S. Did I mention that I have a 5-year-old that is refusing to take naps again?  Sigh. We have been trying to get up earlier and I notice that around 1 or 2, he gets awfully whiny and tends to be in trouble a lot, so I am reinstating nap time.  Unfortunately, Preston would rather spend the hour screaming and crying, than resting.  Y'know, I'd gladly take the nap and sleep through the nite FOR them, since they don't seem to see the value in it.  Hmph.