Another whiney post

Monday night was not a good night. AT ALL. It seems as if we are regressing in our sleep again. Lexi did not sleep through the night on Sunday night...but I chalked it up to being out all day and overstimulated (and hungry since she DIDN'T EAT). But Monday night took every ounce of patience and strength to get through. Even at her worst as an infant, it was never that bad.

Lexi went down at her usual 8:30 Monday night. Quite happily actually. We told her it was bedtime and to "March" upstairs and she did so smiling all the way. She went to bed without any protest and was asleep by 8:45ish. Queue 11:30. The wailing began. She refused to be put down. We knew from our "tough love" nights that we wouldn't give her a bottle...but when she was still crying over an hour later, I decided I would take her downstairs. She happily sat on my lap browsing books until about 1:45am...when she happily went back to bed. Not bad so far. Just sleep deprived. Figured I would just work from home...no biggie.

5:20am. Lexi wakes up crying again. I wait a few minutes to see if she'll settle back down. Nope...the crying turns to screaming...which turns into inconsolable sobbing. DH went to her with a bottle (figuring we'd hand it to her and she'd go back to bed), which she threw on the floor. He picked her up to try to console her...nada. She wasn't having it. I tried to console her and she would just arch her back and lift her arms to slide out of your grip. When I would let her down on the floor, she'd lay face down sobbing, then get up, walk over to me with her arms raised in that "pick me up" gesture, only to arch her back again when I would pick her up. She didn't want to be held, but she didn't want NOT to be held. She was crying so hard we were afraid she'd throw up. It got to the point where I had to physically restrain her by sitting "Indian style" with her in my lap and my arms wrapped around her, because she would throw her head back against me when I would loosen my grip. She finally calmed down around 6:30 after I had held her this way for what seemed like forever, singing calmly in her ear. She finally took her bottle and then slept until 9:15 Tuesday morning.

I have no idea what caused her to cry like this...she's had bouts of inconsolable crying in the past...but they usually only lasted 5 minutes or so. Not an hour. Never to the point of headbutting me. My chest still hurts from the blows I took. Someone mentioned to me that maybe she wasn't actually awake during this time. I hadn't thought about it. Her eyes were open...but I know that doesn't necessarily mean she was awake. How would you know if your child was "sleep walking" or was actually awake? Someone else mentioned Night Terrors. Could this type of crying be caused by a night terror?? It really freaked me out. I plan on mentioning it tomorrow at her evaluation...not that an OT or SLP would know. But they might have some ideas.

I just feel like we're moving backwards. She was eating at one point...and sleeping through the night. But she's regressed in both areas. Don't get me wrong, she's a SMART kid. She understands everything we tell her...even following our requests. She can pick out animals in her book (kitty v. doggie v. fishie) and helps dress her self, uses her toothbrush and hairbrush appropriately, uses the remote (yes she changes the channels to all the cartoon stations) and telephone, even knows which button to push on my laptop to make "Curious George" sing. I just don't know why these 2 areas are so hard for her. I hope we'll get some answers, at least to the eating, tomorrow.