Still Screaming...

Nathan has been crying for over an hour.  Screaming bloody murder is more like what it sounded like at some points.  I think its separation anxiety, it could be teething, or probably a combination of the two.  Brian is at work tonight, so I'm by myself trying to figure out what is the best thing to do for my little boy (but we've chatted on the phone, so thank you God for some support!).  For so long Nathan was great going to sleep, only needing minimal assistance.  But in the last two weeks, as he's falling asleep in his crib,  he'll pop his head up and checking to see if someone is still in the room in before settles back down.  He does this multiple times as he tries to go to sleep - I've stood over him and watched him.  He'll be drifting off, and then he'll twitch a little, and then again, and then twitch enough to wake up and look up to see if I'm still there.  And if I'm not there, he screams.  But for right or wrong, I guess I've decided that standing by his crib for minutes or hours isn't going to be something I can or should do when he has trouble falling asleep.  Tonight he fell asleep nursing because he didn't take a second nap, and I thought I was home free.  But as I was getting in bed at 10:30, I heard him starting to make some noise, and the fun for the night began.  I always struggle with how much comforting I should give him.  Tonight, every time I would go back into his room to comfort him, when I left it seemed like he was screaming and crying harder then before I went in.  I gave him tylenol just in case it was the teething, but the sobbing continued.  So at some point I decided to stop going in and just let him cry it out, which just makes me want to cry!

He has finally cried himself to sleep, which means its my turn to try and fall asleep.  I hate how I get so anxious about stuff like this that I then have such a hard time winding down myself.  It's like I keep expecting him to start crying again so I can't relax.  But I must try.  Goodnight.