The story continues….
The usual dinner and bathtime routines completed, I then took the son upstairs to our room to read him some books. I’d noticed some suggestions on the interweb around the importance of set routines before bed and thought this would be a good time to introduce a new one for our son.
He enjoyed the first three books and then pointed to another. We read that and still no signs of tiredness. ‘Here we go again’ I thought.
I then found another book and all of a sudden, two pages in, the son let out a big yawn and stretched his arms. Not sure where it came from, but I said to him “Do you want to go to sleep buddy?”. And then was completely gobsmacked when he nodded a yes in reply. In a flash I was up carrying him to his room and kissed him on the forehead as I said goodnight.
I left the room with him still awake and stood at his door. Time seemed to stop as my heart beat faster and my ears were pricked for any kind of noise. And then it began. The crying started up and I retreated downstairs to go through it all again.
Taking note of our experience that continually going in just seemed to make the son angrier and more upset, I decided to just let him cry for as long as I could take it and not go in at regular intervals. I also decided I couldn’t just sit there and listen to the screaming so put my iPod on as I made dinner and tucked into a nice glass of Shiraz.
Dinner finished, I looked up at the clock and took note that it was 30 minutes since I put him down. Earphones out, and there it was. The son was still crying. But as I listened more intently, I could hear that it was a very different cry. More of a moan than a cry. More of a protest than a scream.
I decided I needed to persist as the crying was not that intense and me going in would surely result in him starting up again. The next minute went slow. And then the next one even slower. ‘Cmon little man, just go to sleep’, I found myself muttering.
Another minute went by so I tried to occupy my mind with other matters. Anything but the sounds coming from upstairs and the reminders of my upset son.
Then all of a sudden the crying stopped. I walked half way up the stairs and listened carefully. Another minute went by and still no noise from the son’s room. Could it have worked? Could he have finally given in?
The answer was yes. It had worked in getting him down to sleep without any assistance at all. The true test though, was going to be when he woke during the night. As that had been the real battlefield.
Totally spent after all the comings and goings of the last few nights, I went to bed early and readied for myself for the next onslaught. I went down in mere moments and slept like I’d never slept before. Eventually awakening to the sounds of the son crying once again.
But this time, it wasn’t midnight or 3am. It was 6am and the sun was peaking through the gaps between the window and blind. “You beauty” I thought as I quickly walked into the son’s room and hugged him intensely with pride. He smiled back at me like he knew exactly what was going on and he was proud of himself too. A real father-son moment.
And that seemed to be the straw that broke the camel’s back. Despite some trepidation from the wife and I over the next few nights, the son continued to sleep through and has now even started to wave goodnight to us as we leave his room at sleeptime. Not too mention the odd time when he has motioned toward his cot to say he’s ready for sleep now. What a transformation for him, and what a transformation for us.
So that is the story of our sleeping son. Another Man v Toddler tale, encompassing all the aspects of a good thriller. A battle of wits between two clever adversaries. Full of suspense and intrigue. Hope and despair. But then culminating nicely into a rounded ending where the heroes win the day and everyone lives happily ever after.
At least until the son gets sick again that is. And then all bets are off I'm sure.
EDM.
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