A peaceful night sleep?

I have never met anyone with a child who reported that they were well rested and if I ever do, it will be the first time I accuse anyone of lying. I have been meaning to post my thoughts on the subject of sleep for quite some time now. So here goes....

After Tyler came home from the hospital we went through the normal exhaustion phases-- you really have no idea what it is going to be like until it happens to you and you find yourself doing bizarre things at awful hours of the night (all mommies know what I mean). When he was about 2 months old, it really got easier (or we just blocked it all out) and he got up 2 times a night. Being a first time parent, I had all my books ready to consult with, the Internet, and any stranger on the street ready to give me their opinion about what should happen and what shouldn't happen at night. I'll admit. Nick at Night was our REALLY good friend for a few months and I now REALLY hate Roseanne. When Ty woke up, we would sit in the easy chair with him and watch TV while he ate. It worked and as they say, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"!

Fast forward to when Ty is 2. We moved shortly after his 2nd birthday. We had NO complaints, he slept great, was easy to put down and wouldn't get up too early in the morning. UNTIL Christmas 2006. We were in New York for the holiday. All I know is that I woke up one morning and my son was standing next to the bed, breathing on me and probably trying to figure out if I was still alive. He had climbed out of the pack and play and come over to me. We thought "how cute!." Yeah right! Over the next few months, we went though the crib tent at home, 2 toddler beds, and finally settled on a double bed. We bribed, we got upset, we let him stay up, and we gave him medicine (with the pediatricians blessing, of course). We had NO IDEA what to do. We tried the Nanny technique and ended up with holes in our plaster walls. He would have 4-5 hour tantrums in the middle of the night. And since we now hated Roseanne, Folgers became our new best friend! After a few months, things settled down again.

Fast forward to the present. We have been having problems again. We have, once again, tried EVERYTHING! Stickers, tattoos, money, taking toys away, sleep charts, special treats..... The Sticker Fairy worked for awhile, but then it lost it's effectiveness. All day long I supervise people about effective behavior management and I could not manage my 3 year olds behavior! We are now in the Super-Ignore stage (no more water/ potty/change of attire/ monsters excuses here)! I have also found that turning off the great monitor (I just had to have) also works (click here to see the demon in our house!).

Part of the reason I had to post this now was because Frank said that every day he has come home this week, he has found wierd things going on in the house. All me. I take the blame. I need sleep. Last night I tried to throw the dirty towels into the coat closet instead of the landry chute. I also mamged to buy 2 diet cokes today at lunch because I forgot I had already gone downstairs 15 minutes earlier and done the same thing.

Thanks for letting me ramble. And as they say, "what doesn't kill us only makes us stonger"!

After you read this, please knock on wood 3 times, this week has been really good!