I'm pulling my hair out.......

and after that, I will be so insane, they'll have to take me to the asylum........



The source? All of my kids have always been good nappers as babies/toddlers and always good sleepers. They need the sleep. I know this because I've seen the way they act when they've gotten under 9-10 hours at night......crabby, emotional, tired, not focused, etc. They've inherited this from me. I've always had to get enough sleep every day or I will literally get sick. It happened to me all the time growing up, in high school and in college. If I went days with only 4-5 hours of sleep, my body would just shut down. I'd have to stay in bed for a couple days and catch up. With my newborn infants, it was torture. And Will knew he had to help me out when I was nursing a lot during the nights, or he would have a very sick wife. I guess it's just a family thing because all of my kids tend to act the same way with little amounts of shut eye. People used to gasp at me when they asked what time we put our kids to bed. "Usually around 7:30.....all of them are always in bed by 8". Yeah, that's just what we have to do in our house. And it's always worked.



Until now.



Eli is driving me nuts. (but what's new?) Really, he's a great napper, but that's not the problem. Lately his falling-asleep time is anywhere from 12-1 am! He won't stay in bed. He won't fall asleep with siblings, he won't fall asleep in our bed, he won't fall asleep with dad in bed with him..........he just won't FALL ASLEEP! Just last night, we put him in bed and put Gabe and Noah in our room, locked his door and let him scream for an hour (which is something I never do). I thought after crying for that long, he'd knock himself out. Like we'd have to push the door open cuz he fell asleep on the floor right there? But nope, he was wide awake just hanging out. He had turned on the light by the ceiling fan and was playing with toys. What in the........?! By the time we were ready for bed, Will had to go lay down with him in his bed and later told me he still didn't pass out for another 45 min. or so! This is what happens every night.



I guess I can contribute it to the holiday vacation and changes of schedules, the vast amounts of candy he's eaten (which we're eliminating as of today), his growing body, stages they go through, etc. And I know we can probably do more to get this under control, but honestly, it's getting old. And tiring. And frustrating. Will thinks we need to eliminate the naps, but I don't think that will help. I know with my kids and other mothers that children can take 3-4 hour naps and still get a full night's rest. And the opposite: they take no naps and are awake all night. Eli has to nap or he'll fall asleep wherever he is mid-afternoon. But I need some ideas on how to get him to stay in bed at night. He has tended to be the kid who will fall asleep last......Gabe and Noah are usually asleep before Eli. But he always tends to drift off right after. Not now.



I'm to the point that he goes to bed at 7pm, with the door locked. The other boys can sleep in our room and stay there if needs be. And Eli can scream and/or play as much as he wants, but I'm not getting him up. I always hated going to other's houses and hearing babies or kids crying/screaming to go to bed and that was they're normal routine every night. But right now, I'm not too sympathetic.

Any suggestions?