Sleep Habits

Every night before I go to bed I check all of my children. A perfectly normal thing to do, but I take it one step further. I don’t just poke my head in their rooms, I actually see if they are still breathing. It is partially a hold over from when they were tiny little babies, all swaddled up in their cribs and the news seemed to all about SIDS. I was starting to let go of my little paranoia when Max was diagnosed with CF.

So I then felt compelled to really check on everyone. With Max I’ll even lightly rest my ear against his chest to listen to his lungs. It is the best time to listen to him. He is a very active child and it is almost impossible at times to get him to sit still AND not make noise. My family is riddled with Asthma so I grew up listening to a whole range of crackles and wheezes. As a result I have a good ear for any oddities in the normal sounds of Max’s lungs. Fortunately he is a solid little sleeper and his lungs usually sound fine.

The other night when I poked my head into Jake’s and Nate’s bedroom I saw this:


Jakenateatnight
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

Jake all sprawled out on top of his wadded bed linens and quilt and Nate’s bed empty. If you look closely at the far right edge of the photo you see a small hint of Nate.

Here he is, all curled up on the floor.


hiddennate
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar.

The first time this happened it was a little unnerving. I first rushed to my room to make sure he hadn’t snuck into Larry’s and mine bed. When that proved to be devoid of Nate I flew back to his room. After some intense searching I found him under a fallen blanket in the same spot between his bed and the wall. At other times I have found him on Jake’s bed and on the floor on the far side of his Jake’s bed. I have now learned to carefully check the floor before going elsewhere to look for Nate.

The most frightening bed disappearance was Rebecca. She had just turned two and was still sleeping in a crib. When I checked on her she was gone. The sides were still up, but there was no Rebecca. I rushed from room to room frantically trying to find her. Just when I was at my most panicked I found her, She had tucked herself under her crib and covered herself up with here blankie. The dust ruffle had obscured her from my view. I gently scooped her up and held her close until I calmed down.

Both she and Max and been climbing in and out of their cribs, but they were not ready for the absolute freedom of a real bed. It is amazing the chaos that can be generated by two unsupervised two year olds. I couldn’t hover over them while they fell asleep and they get up very early in the morning. At some point they would be awake and alone together in their room. I had a choice, strip their rooms of all furniture (they like to climb) and everything else or get crib tents.

I went for the crib tents.