Hoping that tonight isn't like last night....

It is 8 pm and Rosalyn is fast asleep in her bed after going through our usual sleepy time routine. We usually have absolutely no issues with bedtime, naptime, or sleeping in general. I believe it is a combination of her personality and our parenting style when it comes to sleep, but regardless of that Rosalyn has always been a good sleeper.

However, this was not the case last night.

Jason and I went to bed at 11 pm. We were cozy and sound asleep at 1:30 am when out of nowhere, Rosalyn starts screaming at the top of her lungs. We bolted up and sat there for a minute discussing what we should do. This is not a common scenario at our house so we were at a loss for ideas. In fact, I cannot recall the last time she woke up in the middle of the night. After a minute or so of debating aloud, we decided we would definitely have to go in...

He ran to the kitchen and heated up a milk sippy (yes, my 16 month old still drinks warm milk) as quickly as possible while I tiptoed into her dark room and attempted to shush/rock her back to sleep while doing all the usual checks (dry diaper, no fever, plenty of pacis in the bed, etc.). She didn't mind the checks, but was utterly uninterested in the going back to sleep part. I also gave her another rub down of orajel on her swollen gums just for good measure. When Jason arrived with the sippy--after nearly tripping in the dark hallway on a well placed toy--she happily slurped the milk down. But then, rather than go back to sleep, she wanted to get up and play! She kept jabbering in a foreign language and trying to get down out of my arms. So I put her in her crib and left the room. And she screamed. And screamed some more. She was using her maddest voice. We are very anti "crying it out" but we weren't sure what to do since it was now 2 am and we don't want her to get the impression that this kind of game is ok. We tried going in every 3-5 minutes to quietly comfort her and lay her back down, but this did not work.

Finally at 2:30, I went in to her room for good. I sat in the rocker like a stone and let her get down and play in the dark. I did not say a word to her the entire time. She played (in the silent dark) for two whole hours. She doesn't even have any toys or books in her nursery, but she somehow amused herself with the laundry basket and dresser drawer handles. Finally, three hours after first waking, she crawled right up in my lap and fell asleep in about 30 seconds as if nothing had ever happened. I laid her back in her crib at 4:30 am and she slept without a peep until 10:30 am.

I am praying that this scenario does not play out again at our house tonight.

According to my dad (aka "Pop" to Rosalyn) we should have just gotten the precious baby darling out of bed and played with her, watched cartoons, and fed her yummy snacks. I told him that we will call him the next time this happens and he can drive the 15 miles to our house and entertain the little princess while we sleep! The sad (and sweet) thing is that he really would. :)

I will update tomorrow. I suppose I should go to bed now, just in case.