ZY's sleep

A few days ago, I was reading some old posts and saw that ZK could be left alone in his room to sleep before he turned two. Sure, there were plenty of hiccups - sleeping on the floor, having to lock the door - but generally he could sleep quite well. Or if we kept him company, he would stay in his bed and roll quietly until he fell asleep. Same thing if he were to wake at night - he was usually quiet.

This ZY is past two, and he MUST be accompanied at bedtime. It's usually kakak these days. On her off day, he always snuggled up in my lap or at the very least, my legs. Tonight, he asked me to massage him coz kakak would *.* I refused and suggested that I pat pat him instead. He told me he would pat pat himself *.*

But tonight was already a more successful night than last Sunday when I took more than an hour with him coz he woke when I was transferring him from my lap to the bed and cried for kakak. The whole movement hurt my pelvis like mad but was pointless in the end coz he woke. I was very pissed.

Just now, I decided to sing him an old song I made up for ZK. I sang it a couple of times to ZY in his early days but his name doesn't fit as nicely into the song..

小XX要睡觉啦 小XX要休息啦
爸爸疼你呀 妈妈疼你呀
小XX要睡觉啦 小XX要休息啦
爸爸爱你呀 妈妈爱你呀

睡觉啦 休息啦

疼你呀 爱你呀

小XX要睡觉啦

After the first time, ZY wanted me to sing it again. And he repeated each phrase after me so it was a pretty nice harmony :) Less than 10 times later, I stopped and he settled more on my thigh. Soon, he was asleep.

So amazing! Usually when I sing, he would end up more energised - unlike ZK, he wouldn't settle for lullabies much...

I waited a full five minutes before attempting to shift him to his bed. The first attempt made him turn around and grab my thigh instead. The second attempt made him go back to an easier position lying sideways on my thigh. The third attempt - I slid his pillow under his head and slid my leg out. Success!!

The past two nights, he woke before midnight, first crying for kakak, then acting all cute and said hi to us before finding kakak. Hopefully tonight he could sleep more before waking up - he would surely wake at least two times before morning. It's very difficult to wean him off sleep support now but again hopefully, he would become a good sleeper like ZK...