No rest for the weary…

At about six months of age, my son caught a chest cold. That cold rapidly became a cough and then a chest infection. Though we were finally able to rid him of his illness with some antibiotics, my wife and I didn’t realize that his cold would affect our sleep and lives from then on.

You see, during my son’s illness he was unable to breathe because his sinuses were all congested. Consequently, he would wake up several times throughout the night. My wife and I, troubled to see our poor baby so unhappy and uncomfortable, took pity on him by rocking and soothing him back to sleep.

Six months later, we find ourselves still rocking him back to sleep. He got so used to waking up and expecting mom and dad to come and cuddle and soothe him, that he hasn’t been able to sleep since without us.

Don’t get me wrong; I love my son and have no problems with giving him lots of affection, but having to go in three to four times a night and spend 20 to 40 minutes trying to get him to fall back asleep pretty much sucks.

That’s partly why it’s also taken me so long to blog. After spending half of the night in my son’s room, who wants to come back and sit on a computer trying to think up something pithy to say? I’d rather just sit and watch a movie or go down for a rousing game of PS3. And that’s  only because by the time I get out of his room, my wife has decided to call the night a bust and go to sleep herself.

Anyways, as my son has come close to his first birthday, he has started to settle down a little more, though the night wakings and demands for a cuddle from dada still go on from time to time.

That said, though, the last couple of weeks have given me some hope that he is learning to sleep by himself.  Of course, I’m not going to count my chickens just yet, especially since he just caught another cold.

So, I’m going to keep my fingers crossed and hope that this next cold won’t set him back, cause if it does, it’ll be another three months before you get my next post.

If any of you out there are still reading this blog, wish me luck. Or better yet, if you have any tips on how to get him to sleep through the night, send them to me. I’ll love you forever.