Nighttime Troubles Update

I wanted to get on and let everyone know how things were going with Owen's nighttime troubles.

1. Nighttime Invasions: Unfortunately, these have not gotten any better.  There are still some nights that he is in our room 2 times a night and others not at all.  It is still a little bit of a shock when we wake up in the morning and haven't been awoken at all.  We did have a few nights over the weekend where he would wake up wet (we had stopped taking him to the bathroom before we went to bed because we didn't think that he needed it anymore).  Well needless to say, we will start doing it again in hopes that this will help keep him asleep.  There was also one night over the weekend when I heard him calling out for me.  I went into his room and he was just waking up in his bed.  He was talking about spiders and that they were in his room.  I reassured him that everything was fine.  He asked me to turn on the "big light" (more on that later) and I told him no, that he was fine.  He asked me to stay with him for a little bit.  I knelt down by his bed and he held onto my arm for a few minutes....until he was asleep again.  It broke my heart a little.....he is having nightmares:(

2.  Nighttime Escapes: These have gotten better!  He did earn his play doh tractor (and another since then!!) so that helped a little.  Plus, Tony and I discovered that he was/is afraid of the dark.  One morning last week I was talking with him on the way to Gramma's about going to bed.  I asked him if he was scared.  (I don't normally try to put thoughts in his head, but was curious as to what his answer would be).  He talked about an "echo" in his room that was in a hole behind his bed-and it had a tongue that went in and out.  Later that night Tony went in to check on him and he had his room light on but was in bed.  When Tony asked him about it (being scared) he asked him to "make the monsters dead daddy."  We were both then heartbroken and convinced that he was scared of the dark.  We have a bedside lamp (the "big light) in his room that we used when he was little and woke up so we didn't have to use the regular light in the middle of the night.  We have started leaving that on and he has been better about staying in his room....notice I didn't say bed:)  It usually takes 2-3 times of us checking on him before he stays in bed and is not up with his toys, but he is definitely going to bed much quicker and easier.

I hope the scared of the dark phase passes quickly!  Makes this momma very sad for her little guy:(