We traveled a few hours away and went to a Roller Derby last weekend. Who even knew these still existed?! They do, and they’re actually fun, but you have to sit on the floor right next to the action. It truly makes all the difference. That’s not the story though, the story is that we left baby blue eyes with a babysitter – at bedtime, and with someone he doesn’t know - both things we never do.

He did fine, essentially, except that at 10:30 he still wasn’t sleeping. He was fine, not fussy or anything, just not sleeping. At home, he’s often asleep by 7:30. A new place, new people, he might MISS something if he sleeps! We told them a little bit of his bedtime routine, but not wanting to be THAT mom I didn’t tell them that we make the whole house darker and quieter and then get him ready for bed in his dark, quiet room, and THEN rock and read books. And I didn’t tell them that a stroller walk works, but only if you don’t talk, or it’s REALLY long. You have to make him believe nothing else is going on, and it’s okay to sleep. Goodness.

That’s all cute and funny, but THIS is not: for the last four nights, he has woken up at some point – sometimes it’s early, sometimes late – and just simply screamed and cried for an hour or so. Rocking doesn’t help, cuddling doesn’t help. We thought it could be teething, but every teething idea in the book hasn’t made a difference. Nursing him puts him back to sleep, but sometimes he won’t nurse. A paci calms him down, but he won’t take it. We think it could be allergies, and that he’s not feeling well because of them, but a friend told me yesterday that babies this young don’t usually have allergies yet (you have to be exposed before you can develop an allergy, makes sense). We have a well baby appointment scheduled for next week, so we’re waiting on seeing the doctor until then (our doc is out of town this week, and I learned my lesson last time I saw a difference doc) Last night, we sucked out his stuffy nose, gave him motrin, and gas/tummy drops and he finally took a paci and calmed down.

I’d been working on trying to get him to sleep better, helping him fall asleep in his crib, helping him stay asleep; and I’ve had bright spots. He goes down in the crib better, not fighting as much, he goes back to sleep in the morning (he used to stay awake if he woke at 5am hungry) and sleeps until we get him up. But it seems we get one step forward and then something new throws it all off. If it’s not one thing, it’s another.

Goodness gracious. How did we get this child? I guess this is my payback for crying/not sleeping for the first two years of my life. I used to think that was just a funny story. Now I feel sorry for mom and dad. Is there a way to make amends 28 years later? I suppose by now they’ve caught up on their sleep…