To Clarify

A lot of you are asking what Eli's sleep pattern is, so for the record I'll start from the beginning. The day I brought Eli home from the hospital, I put him on a schedule and we had a very strict bedtime routine which we continue to this day. It's a warm bath followed by prayers, singing and a kiss goodnight. I lie him in bed still awake and he dozes right off on his own. That part remains constant even now. But here is our timeline otherwise. From birth he was on a perfect three hour schedule which meant he was up only twice in the middle of the night, and it was like clock work. Around six weeks old, he dropped one overnight feeding and was up once from there on out. Typically he could go to sleep at 9:00, eat around 2:00, and sleep until 9:00 that morning. Around ten weeks he slept through the night and did so until April 17th 2010. I'll never forget that night as long as I live. We went to Thunder Over Louisville and changed him into pajamas on our way home so that he would sleep well. Like clockwork he fell right asleep...until we got home. He as up until 5:00 that next morning and ever since we've spiraled out of control. He was 8 months and seven days old when our blissful sleep came to an end. From eight months to ten months we would let him cry it out. When he awoke we'd let him cry for about ten minutes. If it continued we would walk into his room and pat his back to assure him we were there. Then we would leave again with picking him up. If the crying continued, we would let him wail for 15 more minutes before calming him by rocking. We'd lie him back in the crib still awake and repeat the process if needed. After three nights he'd usually get the memo. We'd have about two good weeks and be back at it. From 10 months to 13 months Eli suffered from chronic ear infections, so our process became tricky. If he displayed symptoms of ear infections we would of course console him immediately. Naturally this led to confusion on the nights he awoke but needed no extra care. So, the sleeplessness continued, until he had his ear tubes put in. He slept that night on..until he got sick two weeks later. Thirteen months to 17 months were filled with odd illnesses including three tummy bugs, four sinus infections, a double ear infection and a form of pneumonia. Naturally, sleep was stretchy. We would repeat our middle of the night routine that had brought success before and it would work, for about two weeks until the next illness took over. So, here we are three months later and back at it. The doctor and sleep therapist have reviewed our routine and say we are doing everything right. Both believe that his sleep patterns are out of rhythm due to the long strand of illnesses. That being said, there isn't much more we can do. I should clarify that Eli has not seen the sleep therapist himself. I did an interview on the issue and picked the brains of both professionals in the facility. Our doctors have been wonderfully supportive and have even called me at home to check on Eli. In case you are wondering, we have used night lights, sound machines, and other aids that I won't go into detail with here. We have even put the pack n play in our room to use on particularly bad nights. So now, if something doesn't give we'll be co-sleepers. It goes against everything we have tried for the past 20 months, but enough is enough. So, there you have it. The good, the bad and the ugly.