Sleep? What's that?

So as you've read, Josh and I have been struggling to get shut eye the past several nights.  Our dream child when it came to sleeping, napping and going to bed has revolted and we feel like we are in the newborn sleep deprivation haze all over again.  We still have no idea what the problem is.  He is taking his naps on a mat at school just fine like always, but something about his room and his crib is freaking him out.

It was the same routine again last night...Noah standing in his crib sobbing and screaming while I sat on the floor next to him singing and trying to calm him down.  Finally it got to the point where I lifted him out of bed and I could literally feel his whole body relax almost immediately.  He settled in, basically laying in my lap so I decided to try putting his blanket on the floor to see if he would detach himself from me at all or if it was just a mommy and daddy thing.  I asked him to lay on the blanket and he climbed right out of my lap and onto the blanket.  Huh! Alright, so I said "Noah would you like to lay on your mattress?"  "Yeah," he whimpers.  So I lift the mattress out of his bed and put it on the floor in the middle of his room and he climbs right up and lays down.  Well, okay then! He didn't want me to leave, though, so I had to sit next to him until he fell asleep.

He slept a good 5 hours like that until around 2:30am when I heard his door open.  So I got up and went to his room to find him standing at the baby gate. He had hurled his blanket and lovies over the gate into the dining room (the kid's got an arm on him) and he looked at me and sweetly said "open gate, mommy".  Haha oh this toddler.  So I collected his things and ushered him back to his mattress. "Mommy lay down".  Yes, yes, child, I know the new routine.  After a few attempts to return to my bed and getting caught (ahhhh I thought he was asleep!), I rrrrreally had to go to the bathroom. So I called to Josh over the monitor (he had no idea any of this was taking place) to come and relieve my post.  A little while later J returned to bed as well.  Unfortunately two hours later Noah cried out for me again and I ended up just having to sleep on the floor next to him for the rest of the night...I think I have a bruised hip bone.  

So we weren't sure how to proceed with tonight's sleep attempt.  Do we pack up his crib all together so it's not even in the room? Do we encourage the toddler bed? Do we stick with a mattress on the floor? 

Well I decided to take him to the store after picking him up from daycare. I let him pick out a new crib sheet and I got him a little travel pillow, hoping the excitement of these new items would get him excited about sleeping in his toddler bed.  We came home and he helped me put the sheet on his big boy bed, and he even practiced tucking in Duck, Mickey and Tigger.  But come bed time, it was refusal and sobbing again (thankfully not much screaming this time around).  After about 30 minutes of hostage negotiations, I finally convinced him to lay down and about 10-15 minutes later he was asleep and I was able to sneak out without getting caught. Fingers crossed, he is currently still asleep.  Pray for a full night of rest! We all need it. 

Friends, what do you think? Go ahead and just take out his crib all together? He's never tried to climb out of it, but I'm sure he could. Comment below with your suggestions, tips and experiences!