Poor Babies!

I really feel for little toddlers, especially because that is the stage of life that my little son is at now. He is having a miserable time, and is making the rest of us unhappy too. Daniel is currently teething, learning that "No" really does mean "NO," that Mom doesn't do things for him just cause he wants it, that there are things he can't have, and that bedtime is time to sleep.

We started putting Daniel down for a real bedtime last Monday. The move from our room to his was going to be a big change, and we wanted to get it done before we moved into our new home. All of a sudden, it seemed anyway, he couldn't sleep for longer than 15 minutes without being held. I rested in his room, so that he didn't feel completely abandoned, for two nights. I didn't get any sleep, because just as I would doze off, he would get awake again. At the end of the second night, I was so exhausted that I took my son to my mother's house so that I could take a well deserved nap. Then I had my Dad look at him.

For those who don't know, my father is a Chiropractor, and very good at what he does. He basically works on the overall well-being of the body. Anyway, emotionally Daniel was fine, but what he needed was to feed something (and forgive my spelling) called the Pineal Gland. This little gland near your brain moniters your sleep. It helps you get deep and restful zzzzzz's. To feed this gland, you simply eat a cup of oatmeal before going to bed (you can brush your teeth afterwards.)

Simple. Effective. Very Effective. Because I didn't know if I could trust my cranky little boy to eat oatmeal plain, I got him some Oatmeal cookies at the store (to be replaced today with some healthier ones I make myself.) One cookie before bedtime, and he sleeps most of the night.

I didn't notice this phenomenon earlier, cause when he would wake up at night, I would bring him into bed to nurse with me. Most of the time I was so tired that he would spend most of the night there. So I would help keep him asleep without being aware of it.

The only problem now, is that Daniel thinks it is time to get up between 5:30am and 6am. I am hoping that as the oatmeal builds up in his system that it will mean better and better sleep. Maybe he will start waking up at 8am instead. That would be nice!