I think we've been pretty lucky with Evan so far, in that we always had been able to find ways to console him when he was fussy in the past. If he fussed at bedtime or naptime, we could rock him and help him relax. When that wasn't enough we could use the "Happiest baby on the block" techniques (which worked well when he was really little). As Evan got older, distracting him with a book or toy was a pretty efficient way to stop a budding tantrum. And sometimes when he seemed to want attention, just picking him up and holding him used to work well also. Lately it seems we must have entered a true tantrum phase, and it's no fun when these inconsolable tantrums occur middle of the night.
It's been going on at least a few weeks (maybe over a month) now that Evan will wake up somewhere between 1-4am crying pretty hard. We awake to his screams and see him standing in his crib on the monitor, essentially crying out for us to come to him. John usually quickly rises to go tend to him (bless him for that!), and often he was able to give him a pacifier, his bunny bear, and/or a blankie and put him back down to sleep. It might have taken him 5-10 minutes tops.
However, these mid-night wake ups have now morphed into tantrums in which nothing soothes Evan unless I nurse him. Again, for a week or so this was enough to calm him down and help him get back to sleep. Yet, even nursing isn't enough lately, as he'll get right back into his tantrum after he finishes nursing! :(
This all peaked Saturday night when Evan woke us up around 12:30am, and ended up staying up almost 3 hours! John and I had to take turns trying to console him, and it was very trying. I nursed him (more than once!) and either time wasn't enough to help him relax. As soon as he finished or I tried to put him back in his crib, the tantrum continued. The strange thing was he seemed quite awake as well, yet I know by his fussiness that he must have been very tired (I sure was!). As John carried him around in the nightlight-lit darkness, he thought Evan seemed startled by shadows, and thus maybe Evan had a nightmare and was scared? We also gave him some ibruprofen in case he was in pain from teething or something. I figured once that kicks in, he'll relax. But sadly, it did not work, and thus letting him come to bed with us was our last resort. That even took him some time to calm down, as he tossed and turned and fussed a good bit, but finally, around 3am, he fell asleep laying in between John and I. Luckily neither John nor I had to work on Sunday, otherwise I don't know how we'd have functioned! It's been so long since we got that little sleep, and even back in those days, the wake ups were not as long and drawn out (nor as intense) as it was Saturday night.
Last night I managed to soothe him after his mid-night wake up by nursing him and cuddling him in the rocking chair and then gently putting him back in the crib (nearly asleep already). This was after John already had a turn trying to console him to no avail. But then this morning, Evan gave me an all out riot in protest of his morning nap, so these inconsolable periods are not just limited to nighttime. It just seems that sometimes he doesn't want to sleep and really fights being put in his crib, but most often middle of the night.
I feel so torn between just giving in and letting Evan have whatever he wants to stop his tears, but yet I don't want him to think he will always be able to get his way (thus making his reluctance to go to sleep on his own that much worse). However, there are many of these times that I don't even know what it is he wants to be able to try to give it to him! :( It can't be good for a baby his age to just cry so hard for so long, but what is one to do when you feel like you've done everything you can to help and he still keeps it up? :(
Either way, when it's morning time and Evan wakes up for the day, which now is often closer to 7 or 8am (since he's getting a middle of the night feeding maybe?), he's a cute little happy angel again. I just need to cherish those moments and hope that these truly inconsolable moments are either a phase that we get past soon, or that we find some more tricks up our sleeve to help get this little one back to sleep at night.
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