Something about the month of December and my child sleeping that do not mix.
Let's go back.....Before Henry turned 1 on Dec 31st he took a 3 week break from sleeping. At that time he decided 4:30am was the time to get up for the day. I remember us having to watch Family Matters on Nick at Night because for some reason that kept him quiet. I remember his first Christmas started at 4am because he didn't want to sleep and he decided to hit the corner of the bed frame and scrape his eye. During this time is when Henry was also learning how to walk. He took his first steps on December 2nd, 2009.
Last year in December, Henry decided the crib had to go. Along with the crib went his napping at home. For three weeks in December he wouldn't go to sleep at night and just wanted to stay up. This was real fun because we weren't even in our own house, we were living with Charlie's dad at the time. Bedtime became a nightmare for all of us. The crib was so easy, the mattress on the floor, not so much. By the time we moved into the new house he was sleeping in a bed but still not napping for us. It was a very tiresome Christmas that year.
Now that brings me to this year. This year we are sleeping in the bed and going to bed on time but we have fully cut out naps for the most part. The fun part, when Henry wakes in the middle of the night he comes to our room. Yes, he does fall back asleep but he can be heard running to our room anywhere from 2am to 5am. Then he decides to get up at 6am for the day. He used to sleep until 6:45am/7am. This year in December Henry is learning to potty train. He is doing GREAT during the day and at night still wears a diaper, just in case. I have noticed though that is diaper has been dry in the mornings, and at 6am he asks to go potty.
I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that when a child is trying to master a new thing, their sleep gets all whacked out. From the three examples that I just gave, it seems to hold true in my house. I don't know, if it meant for 3 year olds or infants but obviously him learning something new has effects on my child.
It should only be a few more weeks before my child gets back to his normal sleep patterns or at least I hope! Mommy was really looking forward to sleeping the last seven weeks of her pregnancy and I know Daddy was too!