Sleep, the Elusive Mistress

I have lamented before about Ryan's sleep issues. They come and go, as phases are know to do, but we are now in the midst of another level of trouble. Summertime in the NW means that it does not get dark outside until after 9:30. This means all neighborhood children are still galavanting freely in the street, screaming and playing with all their might. You can't blame them, but when you tell a 2-year old that it's time for bed around 8:30, you are met with some mighty resistance. We have given up on early bedtimes for now. I haven't been working since late May, so we usually don't need to be up early in the morning. Today, we both slept until 9:30. (more on my troubles later).

We begin the bedtime process for Ry just before 8 PM, with a bath and teeth brushing. Then we move to the couch for a book or two, then into the bedroom for 2 more books, and talking about our day. Singing seems to be out for now, I'm okay with it. The problem comes when the parental unit attempts to detach from our leech of a boy and exit his bedroom. Ryan wants us to lay down with him (double bed, so totally happens). Last night, this was at 9:15. He screamed and cried about "Mommy holding his hand so he won't be scared" until after 10:15. Last night we let him go on, with check ups at 5, 10, and 15 minute increments to hopefully wear him down. It's really wearing us down. It's horribly unnerving to know that your child is scared of some unknown. I have told him that we are just down the hall, and that I will look in on him before I go to bed, all to no avail. Jeff gave in last night and retired with Ryan at 10:15. I stayed up until 11, then went to tug on his foot to signal that he could escape to our bedroom. The poor guy (Jeff) is getting up at 5AM to make the ferry commute and bank some time up for when Nugget gets here, and doesn't need to be fighting this sleep battle with the Boy. I don't have the energy either. So we are back to no adult alone time. :( How will we fit a newborn into this crazy dance? EEK.

Now my troubles. Temperature regulation, itching feet and hands (yes, I moisturize several times a night), bladder emptying, and a fetus who just loves to grind her head into my pelvic floor are just a sampling of the joys that I am currently experiencing. These are all pregnancy related and I have to wonder if it will be easier to deal with the baby than deal with all of this stuff! I will find out in 6 weeks.

I was WIDE awake from 3-6 AM today. I got up at 3 for Ryan's crying fit and lay with him for about 30 minutes. Then I was hungry, so I had Breakfast #1. Then I went back to my own bed and lay there. When I was finally dozing at 5, Jeff's alarm clock went off. So I got up again and made his lunch, and lay back down. Ryan called me in at 8 AM for a snuggle and we fell asleep together until 9:30.

What do you do for insane toddler sleep issues?