Here is the thing:
Augie has always been a fairly good sleeper. Once he got the hang of sleeping all night at a couple months old, he had no issues. He has and still does wake up several times to eat and snuggle, but this is no big deal since we co-sleep. I feel him fidgeting and he maybe lets out a grunt, so I just nurse him and we both fall asleep in the middle of it. Lately it has become a bit more intense-- especially the past few nights. He will wake up yelling (not crying like he is sad, or babbling like he is happy and awake-- yelling like a bored kid). He yells because he is TICKED OFF that he is awake and I won't get out of bed or engage him. About half the time he will go back to sleep with some resentful nursing, and the other half he just flails, pulls hair, and keeps on with his garble-grunts and yelling. Forrest and I (especially I) have LITERALLY gotten maybe half a nights sleep the past few days. No, I am not misusing "literally". This is really happening all night long. A three hour stretch of solid sleep is a miracle, and this should not be so, as I have a seven month old! Last night I went nuts and put him in his pack'n'play where he just kept yelling and eventually I rocked him in our chair and he finally went back to sleep.
My question is in several parts:
Did this happen to anyone else abruptly when they previously had a "good sleeper" and what caused it/what did you do? There are so many fields of thought on sleeping, all the way from "Cry it Out" to "Kowtow to Your Baby's Every Tantrum!" I want to do what works but not scar my kid or myself with too many sad nights.
Secondly, I hear my mom friends and relatives talk about how their older babies/toddlers will just go to bed. Like, they say "okay, it is bed time" and the kid gets into bed or lies down and that is it! How did you get to that point? When did this begin? I feel like Augie is SOOO far from being able to be told to go to bed, as he cannot speak or understand much (any?) English...
I like to get different people's varying opinions so I can decide what seems like it would work best for us. Please, share if you think you can help. If you know me very well, you know I take sleep seriously and I am 'bout to go nuts. I can't IMAGINE getting pregnant again and dealing with this, so I NEED to nip it in the bud. Occasional bad night? Normal. Terrible sleeper all the time? Nu-uh.
