No, Really, it's Therapeutic

We have a young son who does not like to sleep alone at night. I mean he has actual anxiety tied to sleeping alone. I don't know why. We have always tried to put our kids to sleep in their own rooms after the infancy stage. He just has never handled it well. But, since he was 2 1/2 days old sleep has been an issue for him, so maybe there's something there.

He started in our bed. We got beat up since he's a wild sleeper. 

We bought a larger bed. 

We were both sleeping on our sides to give him enough space to move around. We considered an even larger bed, but this one is brand new and who can afford to keep doing that. 

We bought a cot with a small mattress on it. We put his cot next to our bed so he was part of our sleeping arrangement but not in the bed. He loved it. 

We really want him in his own room. We have tried everything. 

We offered bribes, even big bribes of big toys and such and he would rather sleep in our room than go for a week or month and get something fun. 

We tried just forcing it. Oh, yeah, that was a horrible few days without any sleep. 

We gave up. 

Until Sunday afternoon. 

We got this. 

Yes, he is adorable. 

Yes, he is cute. 

Yes, he is a lot of work. 

Yes, we said we didn't want any inside pets. 

Yes, he is an inside pet. 

Yes, we all just go gooey over him. 

But, really, it's therapeutic. 

You see, we are making this our son's pet. He named him, picked him out, and he sleeps in his room with him. He doesn't get to sleep with him if our son chooses to sleep in our room, only if he decides to sleep in his own room. So far we are 3 for 4 in him sleeping in his own room. That's the most we have had in a single week ever. We told our son that, for a while, he could sleep in our room one day each week. In a few weeks we will move to one day every two weeks, then three, and so on. 

We are also changing up his room. We moved things around, are adding fun posters to his walls, and making it how he wants it. When life hands you a curve like this, you have to be flexible and think outside the box. He's not like our older son. We could tell him, "you are fine, you are safe, we are here, go to bed, we love you, goodnight" and he would trot off to be content and happy. Nope, logic and reassurance don't work for our younger son. So, we are taking it one day at a time and celebrating even the smallest successes. 

Not to mention, that little cat is so cute. 

Talk soon.