Not At My Best.

Max's sleep has been all over the place lately, which is code for Scott and I have not been getting much rest at night. Looking back over other posts where I am bitching about Max's nighttime antics, I know that paired with sleepless nights and increased head banging, are bursts of progress. But truth me told, at 3:30a.m., the fact that he has mastered the phrases "OH NO!!" and "All Done Sleep!!" is not all that charming.

Max's therapy team has given us a game plan to follow when he wakes up at night. When he bangs his head on his bedroom door, we need to teach him that this is not an appropriate way to get our attention and that he needs to knock on his door with his hand and say "help me". But he doesn't get off the hook that easily, because getting up at 3:30a.m. is also not okay. The theory is that he is banging his head not only to get our attention, but to fulfill his sensory needs. So, after showing him that he needs to knock on the door, and giving him the choice of going to the toilet or getting a squish, I have to get him back into bed (because he inevitably tells me "No Toilet!") and apply deep pressure to his head, core, arms and legs, for about 10 minutes. Then I tell him "Night, night Max, time for sleep" and I leave. At least, in the foggy haze of 3:30a.m., I think that's what I did.

Max and I repeated this dance every 15 minutes until 6a.m., when I deemed it appropriate to great him with "Good Morning Max!" and I begrudgingly let him come downstairs so we could "start" our day. Here's hoping he's as tired as me and we both sleep through the night.