Sleepless nights...HELP!

trying out the pallet

ending up in bed (didn't want the flash to wake anyone up)

Okay...we have had some rough nights here at the Ball house! For the past 2 - 3 weeks, Manze has woken up EVERY SINGLE NIGHT (except for 2 nights...on the weekend, of course)!! She would wake up screaming and complaining that her legs were hurting! Manze is a very strong willed child and I tried letting her cry it out, but she would cry FOREVER and even make herself sick or cry so hard she'd cry all her air out and pass out! Crazy huh?! Tommy and I were at our wits end! Both of us have to work and we both need sleep too! What to do? Well, I tried putting her in her chair (the one I can strap her in) by our bed, but she's figured out how to get out of it! I tried rocking her back to sleep...wouldn't work! I was determined NOT to put her in the bed with us! My friend Michelle suggested making a pallet on the floor and she LOVED that for a couple of days! So, after we got her calmed down (usually at 2:00 a.m. and settled on her pallet) she would not sleep until one of us slept on the pallet with her (not very comfortable, but sleep none the less). But, she would go back to sleep and I could eventually slip back into bed! Then, one night she decided "NO pallet!" What to do? After a week of no sleep, I was delerious and at the brink of a nervous breakdown! I did the unthinkable...I put her in the bed with us! She went right to sleep! BUT, now when she wakes up she wants in our bed! Yes, she does go right back to sleep, but she's not that fun to sleep with! She's moving all the time and she likes to push me off the bed and steal my pillow exclaiming, "my pillow...Manze's pillow!" Oh my goodness...what do I do???? I should have never put her in the bed with me, but I needed sleep desperately...it was a last resort! Any suggestions will greatfully be accepted!!!! Please pray us at the Ball house!


*NOTE: I did talk to the pediatrician about her legs hurting and she told me it could be growing pains and to give her Motrin every night before bed for a week! No more complaints about her legs hurting and no more Motrin!*

*NOTE #2: For those of you out there who let your children sleep in the bed with you, I am not saying that is bad, I just don't want Manze in my bed until she is 6, LOL! I am all about the saying: "You gotta do what you gotta do!"*