Let Me Explain the Sleep

I hope when I said that we have never had sleep issues with the kids, you didn't think I meant that Rio slept through the night at 10 weeks (which she did) and never looked back. PLEASE! She has done all the "normal" things that babies/toddlers do, I just never thought anything was particularly difficult because I knew it was just a phase.


I clearly remember when she slept through the night so early soooooo many people said "Oh you just wait till she's a toddler, you'll pay for it then". Clearly, that was jealousy speaking because no one could believe how easily sleep came to her, and us. So I always thought to myself "Oh well, we'll deal with life as a toddler then and enjoy our sleep NOW". That was definitely the right approach. I never questioned how or why she was a good sleeper as a baby, I just enjoyed it, and lucky us, for the most part it has lasted.

But as she got older, as expected, things started keeping her up. Her teeth. Separation issues. General acting out. Nightmares. Yup, we went through all of it, but I never felt once like I was "paying the price" for her being a good sleeper early on, I assumed everything she was going through was normal. When she was two we went through a couple of months where she would ONLY fall asleep if I laid with her. And then even when she was asleep I had to do a complicated ballet to get myself out of her bedroom without her waking up. Not an easy feat in a 60 year old house with creaky hardwood and squeaky glass door handles.

And even now, she's 4, and bedtime is by no means a treat. It's usually not a fight, but often times it takes 4 or 5 tuck ins (usually accompanied by some sort of laughing fit, singing, or random Q&A session) before she's down. And every couple weeks she wakes up in the night with a nightmare. Sometimes she's easily settled in her own bed, sometimes I have to lie with her till she's asleep and other times she is in our bed and fast asleep between us before I even have time to protest.

So there you go, life is not perfect in Trousdell sleep-land. Just on the more pleasant end of normal! And pleeeeeease don't say "Oh you just wait for your boys to be toddlers and see if you sleep then". Like I haven't already heard 4,000 times when someone's singleton is hard HOW HARD it's going to be with two. Maybe it will be, maybe it won't. For now I have three pretty mellow kids and I'll take it while it lasts, sleep and all!

Rio, asleep through the ages: