The still elusive Mr. Sandman

I'm wondering at what point do you decide that a child's sleep issues are not part of the adjustment to a new home, but are actually sleep problems.

Adam is home almost 5 months and is 22 months old. He is doing amazingly well in almost every area - sleep being the remaining hurdle.

Falling asleep is not his problem - staying asleep is. On a rare "good" night, he awakens 3 times. Usually, its more like 5, and on a very bad night, every hour to every 90 minutes. He definitely wants to be asleep. When he finds himself awake and doesn't fall instantly back to sleep, he seems very frustrated and within about a minute of awakening is into a tantrum of frustration, crying and kicking me in his anger. We are co-sleeping both for the bonding and because I get a tiny bit more sleep with him in the same bed than I would having to actually physically get out of bed and walk to another room five times a night.

He is napping normally at daycare, between 90 minutes and two hours, and usually naps two hours on the weekends.

I am exhausted.

Is this still a normal part of his adjustment, or should I look for help?

A generous spirit!

I just completed refinancing my mortgage and had the closer at my apartment last week. Adam is always interested in new people and was especially intrigued by the big pile of papers Mama was signing. After I pulled my i.d. out of my wallet, I gave the wallet to Adam in hopes of distracting him. I had about $7 in singles, which Adam pulled out one at a time and gave to the closer, who thanked him nicely and put them down on the table next to the big pile of papers. Once he was out of dollar bills, Adam proceeded to pull out every credit card, library card, etc. one at a time and hand them to the closer.

Apparently, by merely thanking him and putting the money and cards down, the closer was NOT getting the point -- Adam then unzipped the man's portfolio and stuffed the money and cards into it and rezipped it! What a generous boy! LOL!

Silly boy!

I broke a toe a few weeks ago, and now everytime I tape it, here's what has to happen:

Sometimes you have a morning....

...where the baby just wakes up in a bad mood. He goes from being sound asleep to a full-fledged tantrum. You struggle to dress a screaming, kicking baby without injury to either of you. He demands to be taken to the kitchen where he rejects each and everything you offer him, yet shrieks upon being removed from the kitchen. Asks for a bottle, rejects it when produced. You try to put him down to finish getting ready for work. This only escalates the tantrum. Finally, you are both ready to head out and walk the dog and then head to daycare when the accumulated force of the baby's continued screaming leads to him vomiting all over himself. And its only 6:55 a.m.

But then, you have a moment -- lying in bed at the end of such a long and wearying day, when the baby reaches out his hand and strokes your check, softly chanting "my mama" repeatedly.....and its worth every minute.

Woo hoo and a big Yee Ha!

Today, for the first day, Adam did not cry when I dropped him off at day care! This is HUGE!

The no good very bad horrible day.....

....was followed by an amazing day. Usually, when I arrive to pick Adam up at daycare, he is either crying or, if he isn't, bursts into tears when he sees me. The teachers assure me he doesn't cry all day, but since he had yet to nap at daycare, he is understandably tired in the late afternoon and once other parents start trickling in to pick up their kids, he gets upset.

Last night, when I arrived, Adam was totally enthralled by and dancing to a Wiggles DVD. When I called to him and he turned and saw me...he smiled! No tears at all! His teacher told me he had napped for an hour and a half for the second day in a row and she exclaimed happily "Now we are seeing the real Adam!" I really hope we've turned a corner here! Keep your fingers crossed!

When he is good, he is very very good.....

....but when he's bad -- whoa! Watch out! After a wonderful string of five days where Adam was a MOST EXCELLENT baby (very few and much shorter tantrums, little to no head banging, great humor and just a whole lot of fun) last night was the no good very bad horrible night. I arrived at daycare at 5:15. I picked him up and he immediately smacked me in the face, ripping my glasses off. Ok, maybe that was the "Hey! I'm mad at you for leaving me here" smack. We take our pleasant 3 minute walk home, stopping to talk to a neighbor for 5 minutes and Adam is all smiles and cuteness again. We get to our building and make it up the steps and inside the first door without incident. I pull out the keys to open the locked inner door and Adam immediately demands the keys. As I need them to open the inner door, the mailbox, and the apartment door, I decline to give them to him. (Mean mama!) He throws himself on the floor, shrieking and banging his head. I gather him up and deposit him in front of the apartment door, while I get the mail, only steps away. He continues his shrieking and head banging. I drag him into the apartment against his will, wrestle his coat off and get him a bottle. He takes two or three swallows and throws the bottle at the dog (with remarkable aim, hitting the poor pup). Clearly angry, I tell him firmly "No throwing". At which point, we're back to shrieking and head banging and hitting me. He retrieves the bottle and drinks for a few minutes then points to the kitchen and we trudge off to see what he wants to eat. He picks a package of frozen mac and cheese with much enthusiasm, yelling for it as if he hadn't eaten in months during the 2 and a half minutes it is in the microwave. He settles into his high chair, takes ONE elbow macaroni, eats it...and refuses another bite! AAAAIIIEEE!!!!!! It was only 5:50 at this point and I was DONE. I haven't had an uninterrupted night's sleep since September. I've only showered alone twice in four months. I'm tired now.

Hopefully, it will be a better day today. When he is good, he really is very, very good.....