When kids regress...

I thought I was past the point of bouncing her in the sling, dancing like I have to pee.  I thought I was past the point of not being able to console her or know what's wrong; when she's dry, fed, and rested all should be well.  Alas, this has not been the case with my five month old as of late.  Seemingly random bursts of "high needs" attention have abounded lately, reminding me of the stress of holding her at 2 weeks with her screaming for no reason I could decipher.

This would all be minor enough if my son hadn't decided to "regress" with her.  Suddenly whining has become his torture of choice for my ears (and patience).  There's something about that "put-on" cry that throws a switch in my brain and steals away my compassion for little tears.  My son's short staccato bursts of forced hysterics--timed perfectly with my daughter's unexplained screaming ringing in my ears--has made for several days of "psycho mommy" moments, moments where I hiss, "STOP IT, just STOP IT".

The other night my daughter screamed every ten minutes or so, every time I thought I had willed her to fall asleep for the night.  And every time I coaxed her back to sleep, and just as I was laying her down again in silence, my son would scream from his room-not-ten-feet-away, "IMAAA, AAAHHH, WAAAH, COME HERE!!!!" reminding me that, he too, was not yet asleep even though I had shut the light over thirty minutes earlier.  (side note: his door cannot shut all the way, it sticks...)

Back and forth I went between the two rooms, one screaming, then the other screaming, until I threw all in and joined the fray, shutting my son's door as best I could to block out his noise from the baby (only to make him more hysterical because he hates his door shut).  My husband came home and, as I was nursing the baby in our room, I heard him go to our son.  "No screamin", my two and half year old said to my husband.  I started to cry.  My husband said, "Ima was screaming?"  "No," he answered.  "Natan screamin".  "Oh," my husband replied, "Well, that's right, no screaming.  Now lie down and go to sleep".  Silence indicated he complied.  I managed to put the baby down without incident.  I went into my son's room and sat down next to him at the edge of his bed.  "When I'm putting the baby to sleep", I explained, "I need you to be quiet, okay?"  He nodded.  "I need you to be quiet so I can come to you more quickly, okay?"  He nodded.  "Every time you scream you wake the baby up and I can't come to you fast, okay?"  He nodded.  "You sit in chair?" he asked.  "Sure", I said, feeling my shoulders relax as I realized I hadn't completely damaged my child.  I turned to rise and head toward the rocking chair near his bed...and the baby woke up screaming.