Sleepy Time Routine: Teething Edition

Yeah, the whole teething thing is really getting in the way of us getting a good sleep routine down. My son woke up this morning at 6:20 a.m., sobbing, and didn't really want to go back to sleep right away. Just wanted to be by Mommy. So I changed him, rocked him, gave him some Tylenol, and nursed him back to sleep only to have him wake up the instant I set him in his crib. Instead of letting the poor boy cry endlessly (or hurt himself by trying to stand up in his crib in his sleep sack) we went downstairs together and played a little. When he set his head on the floor after a while, though, I knew it was my chance to possibly get him back to sleep. We went upstairs and I rocked him a bit, hoping to get him a little drowsy. Then I set him in his crib and left ... and he started crying. Really, really hard.

In the hopes that he would get himself back to sleep like I know he can, I left him there for about ten minutes, but in the end I couldn't take hearing him cry so hard (at this point he was gasping for breath between sobs). When I went back in to pick him up, his face was soaked with tears and saliva, and as he clung to me both got on my neck and collarbone. I sat down to calm him back down with some rocking, and without even trying very hard I had him asleep. That was at 8:10 a.m.

At 10:12 a.m., he is still asleep, though I can hear him stirring a little every now and then. Maybe he's just readjusting ... or maybe he's getting ready to wake up. Who knows?

Oh, and a note about last night ... I woke him up after I got done nursing him and he was pretty unhappy that I was putting him in his crib and just leaving him there by himself. So he cried for probably about ten minutes, but luckily it didn't increase in intensity or sound like he had stood up. At one point his sobs sounded a little muffled, and this morning I found his blankey in the middle of the crib so I'm assuming he snuggled up to that for some comfort (and maybe warmth). But, he did get to sleep on his own and slept until 6:20 this morning ... so I am very proud of him, needless to say! Such a good boy, in spite of those pesky teeth coming in!