Good morning, sleep well?

We've always considered ourselves very lucky that K is a good sleeper. He started sleeping through the night at a very early stage and he's been going to sleep on his own for a long time now - I just put him in his cot and say goodnight and he smiles and waves as I leave the room. Lately though it seems that our luck is wearing thin...

About a couple of weeks ago K started screaming the moment he was left on his own in his cot. Not a gentle, sad little cry but full-on screams. At first I tried a little Super-Nanny style 'leave him to it and he'll soon get over it' but that wasn't working. I couldn't bear to hear him cry like that and if I popped in to reassure him it just set him off all over again. So now I'm back to sitting with him until he falls asleep, both at bedtime and naptime. I don't have to actually do anything, just be there, so I can read or play with my new DS game (thanks Mum!), but I have been known to fall asleep first myself at bedtime and wake up hours later with a stiff neck...

The biggest problem though is the early morning waking. K has generally been sleeping from about 9 till 7.30 most days, but recently he sometimes wakes very early in the morning, with a scream and a wet nappy. It wouldn't be so bad if I could just change his nappy and he'd go back to sleep but of course I can't leave him on his own... I've tried sitting with him again but he just stares at me with big round eyes until I'm desperate to get back to bed and take him with me. Sometimes he (and I) will sleep a bit then, sometimes not. On Tuesday he was awake at 5am and neither of us got any more sleep, and yesterday it was 4am. We did fall asleep again at 6 but then my alarm to get up for work went off at 6.30...

Of course K is able to make up for any lost sleep at naptime, but I'm reluctant to give up that valuable lesson prep/computer/sewing/anything-I-can't-do-with-K-around time, especially as I'm losing it in the evenings now too. I've resolved to get up before everyone else and have half an hour on the computer each morning but of course that too is dependent on K sleeping till a decent time. Today, at least, it worked :-)