Bedtime Chaos

Bedtime has never been easy in our house. When Jake was 3 months old I remember him crying and crying in his crib. When he was 18 months I remember sitting against his door inside his room and having him throw a screaming fit while hitting Brian with a wet diaper. When he was 4 he slept on our floor for months.

Faith used to be our champion sleeper but lately she cries and calls out and wants us constantly from the time we put her to bed until morning- which comes way too early still.

Tanner is doing OK right now, but still has the occasional fit at bedtime- usually sparked by some conflict with Jake or just simply from being too tired.

Jake remains our biggest culprit. He's six and a half years old. When will this battle end? Lately it has been him calling down stairs (literally) 20-40 times a night just to "check if we are still here". He will call out ANYTHING to get a verbal response to ensure we haven't left him. Where did this insecurity come from????? (OK... anyone who knew me as a child you can just zip it!).

On Tuesday we came up with a plan. We took two pictures of ourselves- one of us sitting on our couch reading/watching TV and one of us sleeping (staged, of course). We wrote on the back of each one: "Yes, we are still here. Yes, we love you. Yes, we will see you in the morning" and laminated them. They hang next to him in bed as a reference and a way to possibly get him to STOP. Does this child need therapy???

We are at our wits end (hence the quote at the top of our blog this week).

Since he has been born I have read every book on sleeping habits of children that I can get my hands on and even resorted to reading Mrs. Piggle Wiggle "The Never Want to Go To Bedders Cure" the other day. Seriously... I am that desperate. Please send chocolate, large amounts of caffeine, and possibly some hard alcohol (I'm not sure if that last one would be for me or for Jake).