Sleeping struggles

Since last spring, Jake has shared our bed with us (and yes, that is why we know when we conceived ... when we were out of town). Why? It's easier. He sleeps better and longer. And, we were lazy.

Our plan has been to move him back to his bed as soon as we returned from vacation. So, Sunday night, Brian carried him to his bed after he fell asleep in my arms. The little guy woke up, and I laid down with him. And, he protested a lot and often. Each night we have been doing this. When he awakes in the middle of the night and comes to our room, Brian has carried him back to his bed and laid down with him until he fell asleep.

Last night was a breakthrough. To walk to his room, he has to pass ours. Usually, he asks for "bwanket," meaning sleep with Mama and Papa, and tries to go into our room. On this night, he walked to his bed and climbed the step to get in. Once in bed he crawled to his pillow, a big one that used to be on our bed, and laid down. He even wanted his blanket on. And, I didn't have to climb into bed with him. I had my Kindle and laid on the bed perpendicular to his. Soon he was asleep with little protest.

When he awoke in the middle of the night, Brian and I were too tired to take him to his bed and let him climb in with us. Hopefully, it won't set us back too much, but that's ok if it does since we now know that we can get to this point again.

Now those who don't know Jake well may not understand what a vistory this is for our family. Jakey is not the typical little boy that's just spoiled. He truly does not understand a lot and has trouble communicating. In many ways, he is a big toddler. Before when he would sleep on his own, he would only get about 4-6 hours a night. In our bed, he averaged 8-10 and stopped falling asleep at school. This was a lot more than disobedience or spoiling.