Although I haven't mentioned it in a few weeks, Logan's sleep pattern every night has still been to wake once or twice a night, and he has a hard time going back down. Despite sleeping in Dylan's room, he still cries and just seems very disoriented at night when he gets up. The question is still two-fold. Why does he wake up, and why is he so upset when he wakes? We tried Prevacid for a couple of weeks, trying to rule out acid reflux (unlikely since we see no other evidence but just something we thought we'd experiment). It didn't seem to make a difference, he still woke up. We moved Logan into Dylan's room (moving Dylan to a loft bed over Logan's bed), thinking maybe it would be less scary when Logan woke at night. Didn't seem to matter. The fact is, he still wakes, and he still gets out of bed, closes the bedroom door and cries for us.
So yesterday, I drove to Frederick, Maryland and took Logan to see the pediatric sleep specialist that I learned about last month. He was very thorough, and gave us an hour of his time. He completely checked Logan physically and didn't see anything obvious that would lead to his wakings. I gave him the complete sleep history and we talked at length. I asked about eliminating his afternoon nap (which is usually only 1 1/2 hours anyway) for fear it might be interfering with his rest at night, but the doctor said a child his age still really needs at least one short nap per day (and Lord knows I need him to take one!). He feels an overnight sleep study is definitely warranted, and maybe this will help us finally get to the bottom of it all. So we are scheduled for an overnight study Sunday, January 25th at a hospital in Baltimore. They are the only place in the whole metropolitan area set up to do a pediatric sleep study and from what I can tell, they are experts in this area.
We may learn nothing, but then again, something might just show up and finally click. There is a condition called Periodic Limb Movements Syndrome; there is a possibility that he just never reaches a deep enough level of REM sleep... it could be any number of things. Or, it could just be something behavioral that he is going to have to grow out of. So we'll see. I'm not excited, personally, about the sleep study because the likelihood of my actually getting any sleep that night is slim. Logan and I will have a private room with a queen size bed and a recliner (guess who gets which?). We'll be discharged by 7 a.m. Monday morning to drive home in rush hour traffic from Baltimore. But, if this is what we need to do to find some answers, bring it on.
Behaviorally and speechwise, I think Logan has made lots of progress over the last couple of months. We're hearing more and more spontaneous language and more two word phrases, sometimes three. He really mastered the word "MINE" over Christmas. He still has meltdowns, of course. But slowly we're starting to be able to reason with him and use consequences to get him to change his behavior. I'm starting to feel like the last year (age 18 months - 2 1/2 years) was the real toughie, and we're heading into a slightly easier time with him. He is playing more independently and using his imagination. I'm starting to understand more and more what makes him tick. If we could just get him to sleep all night, every night, I know I'd have more patience to get me through those moments when I just don't understand what he wants.
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