Colds and sleep

Well, just in time for Christmas both the kids have colds. Laurel seems to be bouncing back quickly, but Isaac seems more miserable.  I hear coughing and sneezing coming from down the hall where the kids are sleeping.

Or supposed to be sleeping, anyway.  Laurel has this thing where she gets insomnia, and it looks like tonight might be one of those nights.

I think I last mentioned it over the summer, how sometimes when she wakes up at night she simply cannot fall back asleep.  Luckily it doesn't happen that often, maybe only every three or four months, but when it does happen it is traumatic for everyone.  

It happened night before last.  She fell asleep normally around 7:45 p.m. in her new big-girl bed, woke up at 11:30 p.m., cried, but didn't fall back asleep on her own.  Craig tried to soothe her for a while, as he usually does when she awakens at night.  But it didn't work, so after 30 or 45 minutes he brought her into bed with me.  There she was awake for another 30 or 45 minutes, until I took her back into her room and sat in her chair while she lay in bed.  But then she began playing a game where I was the baby and she was the dad, and first she sang to me for a while, but then she got up and left me alone in the room so I could fall asleep!  So I gave up.  Then Craig tried again in her bedroom, but it didn't work, and then he took her into the living room and let her watch "Max and Ruby" for a while.  I don't know what time she finally fell asleep, but it was at least 3:00 a.m. 

No surprise that last night she was exhausted, fell asleep early, and slept solidly through the night.  I woke her up this morning at 9:00 a.m., an hour and a half later than she usually awakens. 

Tonight?  No such luck.  I tried putting her down at 7:45 p.m., but she never seemed sleepy.  Now it's 10:00 p.m. and Craig has been in her room with her for the last 30 minutes.  I don't hear crying any more, though, so maybe it finally worked out.

This is only the fourth night without the crib, which makes things tricky.  As I noted earlier in the year, sometimes the only way Laurel can settle herself back to sleep is by crying, but now that she can get out of bed herself, that option may not be as readily available.

And everything is harder when you're sick, poor kids.