Sleeping Update

A few weeks ago I posted about Jackson not sleeping well.  I really was at my wits end with it all.  He was taking HOURS to get to bed every night, wasn't napping, and was cranky all day.  It was really hard.  He didn't seem like any teeth were coming in and wasn't showing signs of an ear infection.  Because he seemed fine I didn't think I should take him to the doctor.  Finally, my mom suggested I just go get him checked out.  Maybe there was something wrong that we couldn't tell.  Last Friday I decided I had had enough and took him in.  Our normal doctor isn't in on Fridays so we saw our backup doctor.  I really like them both, thank goodness.

This appointment made me feel REALLY dumb though.  He checked Jackson out thoroughly and asked lots of questions about when we put him to bed, when he wakes up, etc etc.  The diagnosis?  Bad sleep behavior.  He told me I should try to let him cry it out.  If after a week it wasn't better than to come back because there was a chance it could be reflux.

Letting him cry it out was HARD.  Very hard.  But it made me get my butt in gear with him.  I got him on a set bedtime and routine (we've done that before, but never really stuck with it).  The first night Juston and I went for a bike ride while he cried (I couldn't just sit and listen to it).  Thankfully I have the best mom ever who stayed and listened to that torture for a good portion of the time.  It took him 2 or so hours to stop screaming, and probably another hour to get totally asleep.  The next two days got better.  On Sunday he went straight to bed.  I thought we had figured it out. Yipee.  Not.  After Sunday he went back to crying and crying to fall asleep (for an hour +).  Oh, and he STILL was not napping at all.

I decided to take him back to the doctor yesterday morning.  We decided to try some reflux medicine.  (We also found out he has Thrush. Ugh.  But the doctor said that shouldn't be causing any of the sleep issues)  As soon as we got the prescription filled we gave him the medicine.  Unfortunately we were not with him the rest of the day to see the results.  However, when we called to check on him he had taken an hour nap. Say what!? That hadn't happened in quite some time.  Yay.  Then when he went home Slate said he only cried (but didn't really scream) for a few minutes. Again, Yay!  And right now, he is sleeping.  When I put him down he fell right to sleep and has been soundly sleeping for an hour now.

I know it has only been one day since he got on the medicine.  I can't say 100% that it is the solution.  There are a few other factors we need to figure out for sure.  However, right now I feel like it has helped.  I am SO glad we are seeing these results.  I really hope it lasts.  Maybe I will be able to feel like a sane person again sometime.