Sweet Dreams

I’ve gone back and forth with whether I wanted to share about this, but its one of those things that we struggle with in our house and I want this blog to be legit.  Not to mention, I wouldn’t mind you sharing any sleep strategies that work for you so that we can try them here too….

So, sleep with Perry has always been a HUGE issue.  I mean BIG.  The first six months of his life, Perry DID NOT SLEEP.  Like at all.  We’re talking his not sleeping caused me to be so sleep deprived, I remember hallucinating some.  It was bad. When he did sleep, it was in thirty minute increments and he would only do so with me holding him on my chest, sitting up in the bed.  The instant I sat him down, we would wake, cry so much he would start hyperventilating or throw up, which only caused me to lose even more sleep.  So in our book-it was so not worth it.  Hold him we did.

Six to Twenty-Four months were ever so slightly better.  I’m talking just a tiny bit better.

And then FINALLY at twenty-four months, Perry started sleeping through the night!!!!  PRASIE GOD!!!

But-he would only sleep in our bed and it was still unreal difficult to get him to actually go to sleep.  And for a little booger, he sure did take up some BIG room.  BUT, we we’re sleeping some.  I mean, not good, quality sleep, but sleep, nonetheless.  Success. 

It’s been a running joke (not always so funny to me) that Perry requires no sleep.  #mykiddoesntsleep ring a bell?  And the thing is, for the most part, he’s always happy and energetic.  It’s not like he is sleep deprived.  I guess the Momma in me didn’t necessarily think any thing was wrong, but it was just crazy to both me and those close to us that were able to witness all this.  It’s just kinda like “Why doesn’t he need to sleep?!”

And then, about twoish months before his third birthday, he started waking up with extreme leg pain about once, maybe twice, a week.  So, we asked about it at his three-year-old check up and they dismissed it as growing pains, which I also thought it probably was. 

The problem?  It continued.  Throughout his entire three-year-old year, he would wake up so frequently with this absurd pain in his leg.  Some nights, it wasn’t that big of a deal and just bothered him a little and others he would writhe in screaming crying pain for 30-45 minutes, medicines and massaging seeming to do nothing.  And the more it happened, the more I tried to note every little detail.  We were surprised to realize that it was never his muscles that hurt, but ALWAYS his right knee cap.  We found that to be pretty strange as we knew growing pains were typically located in the thigh or calf muscle.  So, we scheduled an appointment with the ortho.

When we went in, we still were expecting them to just tell us it was growing pains and I was just being an over protective parent.  So, we (my mom and I) were both a bit surprised for P to receive an actual diagnosis.  P was said to have hyperlaxity, hypermobility, and enthesis.  Basically, he is like Gumby and can move his little body in ways only a contortionist can and his ligaments and tendons are more stretched out than a normal body.

So, the problem with my little boy being so bendy is that (according to the doctor) his muscles have to work extra hard to get the bones to move, putting more strain on the ligaments and tendons.  And then this is the kicker.  He said that children who have this don’t typically register that their muscles are tired.  Of course they will get winded eventually, but their muscles never start to “scream” in protest as mine do after 20…. Ok 3 squats.  Basically, the doctor presented the scenario that P could run up and down a set of bleachers and his legs wouldn’t actually get “tired.”

Mom and I both looked at each other at this point and almost simultaneously asked, “So is this why Perry NEVER sleeps?!”  And then when I told the doctor we basically couldn’t get P to sleep before 11:00 each night, he rudely informed me that that was completely unacceptable.  (Did I mention this renowned doctor is known for his extreme intelligence, as well as his extreme rudeness?  Uhg.) “But, he’s honestly not sleepy!” I protested to deaf ears. 

Doc went on to explain that there really isn’t any preventing these night pains except by limiting daily activity and making sure P was in bed by 7:30/8:00 every night, getting about 10 hours of sleep. 

Just hold on a sec while I DIE OF LAUGHTER!!!!!  :/

Enter Melatonin. 

1.25 miligrams-what Melatonin?  2.5 miligrams-HYPER! Party in the hiz-ouse.  5 miligrams-WILD AND CRAZY for about thirty minutes, then face plant.  Sweet.

So, along with our all-natural supplement, we are trying our derndest to implement more of a structured bedtime routine.  And much to our avail, it is not going well.  P still sleeps in our bed or will only sleep (with extreme protest on his part) in his own bed with either me or Justin in it.  It’s very frustrating.  But, even with the melatonin, once he goes to sleep and one of us climbs strategically out of his bed, its’ not thirty minutes before he finds his way to our bed.  We’ve tried fussing.  But we’re not good at that because he seems honestly terrified to sleep in his own bed.  How can you punish a child for a fear?! We’ve tried bribing with toys.  He says he’ll just play with the ones he’s already got.  We’ve tried the chore chart, which is cute, but he’s happy to sacrifice his 25 cent smiley face for the chore of sleeping in his own bed.  I really don’t know what to do.  Since honing in on the issue and trying so hard to get him a good amount of sleep, we have still managed to have three knee issues in the past month.   Boo.

And another concern is that we still won’t have this ironed out by the time Jack gets home.  We know he will probably experience some level of sleep anxiety too and I am just not sure we can fit a 5 year old and a 2 year old in our bed.  Ideally, I would LOVE if P had a solid bedtime routine with good sleeping habits, so that I only needed to attend to Jack’s sleeping issues most nights. 

Help a girl out.  What are your sleep tricks?!  PLEASE share!!!

{thankful for}

a sweet snuggle bug

a happy boy at 11pm

Freddy

a king sized bed

tangle fairy hair