Sleeping Arrangements (Nov. 21, 2010)

Since we got Mei he has had a hard time going to and staying asleep. We began trying to get him to lay down with a bottle in a crib, but that wasn’t happening at all. He would stand up in the crib and cry and scream. We decided while we were in China we would just let him sleep as long as we could in the crib and when he wakes in the middle of the night let him sleep with us until morning. That worked pretty well.

Now we are home and trying to get Mei used to sleeping at night. Tonight he was very tired and ready for bed. We thought we would put a mattress on the floor next to our bed and get him used to sleeping on a mattress. Shannon laid him down while he was asleep and then he woke up crying. There was nothing she could do to console him. So we decided it was time to just do the crib thing and let him learn to get himself asleep.

Under normal circumstances it would not be a major issue. But with Mei we are so unsure what his little mind is going through to make him cry and throw such a fit. I remember the 2nd visit I made to the orphanage and how he cried when I had to put him back in the crib and leave. Watching him cry after I had to put him down and walk away ripped my heart out and that is all I can think about when I see him crying in his crib. We don’t know how much attention he got in the orphanage. We know he was the favorite of most of the caretakers, but surely they did not hold him all the time because there is no way they could do that and care for all the children. We also know when most visitors come they play with the kids for a short time and then put them back in their cribs, walk away, and never return again. We have no idea what he is thinking.

We decided that tonight was the night for Mei to learn to sleep on his own. He cried and cried. When I went back in the room to put his bottle in his crib he reached out to me and tried to hold on to me with his little nubs and once again I had to leave and walk away. The difference this time is that I know (if the Lord wills it) I will wake again in the morning and be right there to pick him up and take him out of the crib. This is what He needs to learn– that we are going to be there in the morning. We are not going to leave him. We will be here for him as long as there is still breath in our lungs.

Over time Mei will learn that we will still be there for him in the morning. He will lean this through experience the same way we learn that the Lord Jesus Christ will always be there for us. We reach out for him and find Him there. We sometimes walk away and sometimes it seems as if He is not near. But each time we look for Him and every time we reach out to Him we find He is there! He never leaves us or forsakes us! We learn this through experience.