51 : Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

My older son had always been an excellent sleeper.  When he was a baby, we were very strict with our sleep training and respected his sleep schedule above and beyond all else.   He'd go to bed around 7 at night and within 5 minutes he was out.  It was pretty incredible, actually and I felt fortunate for this.  We sleep trained our younger son as well, but were not quite as rigid (second child:).  Luckily for me, he too was a great sleeper.  A few months after my husband moved out though, I began to have some problems with my older son sleeping.  I'm sure it was probably just his age and not anything to do with my husband leaving, but regardless it didn't make things any easier for me.  I was already having problems sleeping myself (see post #34) so to add a tired two year old to the mix, only made it worse.  It started with him climbing out of his crib.  First it was once or twice when I put him to bed.  Then is turned into all hours of the night.  He had mastered it quickly, so I wasn't so much concerned about his safety as I was annoyed that my sleep was now being disrupted. He'd hop out of the crib with ease and come get in my bed. I'd carry him back but it would cause a fight- kicking, screaming and crying so I conceded for fear it would wake my younger son.  I tried switching him to a big boy bed, thinking this might help.  And it did, for one night.  But then we were right back to him climbing out and coming into my room.  I tried stickers.  Candy.  Ice cream.  Any sort of bribery I could think of.  All of which were effective for that immediate moment, but didn't seem to provide long term relief.  And then one morning I woke up to see my adorable little boy sound asleep next to me, looking like an angel.  Why was this stressing me out?  What was the big deal if he came and got in bed with me?  He went right back to sleep.  Sometimes he even cuddled with me.  I mostly wanted to correct this problem because I wanted to know that he could stay in his own bed.  But deep down, I actually liked having him by me.  I had been sleeping next to someone for the last 6 years, so it was kind of nice to have him there.  It's not like it would be forever.  I decided to quit worrying about it and just enjoy it while it lasted, however long that would be.