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It's been a while, mother's guild. I've been struggling along at my own pace, trying to do things on my own, but I'm at a loss.

My son had bronchitis over Thanksgiving. Ever since, his bedtime/naptime routines have been ruined. Last night I went to bed at 11:30pm. I was up with my son (16 months) at 1:30am. I didn't get him nor I back to sleep until 4:30am and then he was awake again at 7:30am. I don't know if it's the illness still in his system, whether his routine was disturbed by that week because he was up and down all night...I just don't know.

I can't find any ways to soothe him back to sleep. He's always been boisterous and independent. Any attempts to cuddle, rock or sway fails because he kicks me so hard that I bruise. I've tried the 'cry it out' method, which just continues for an hour before I realize I'm not doing anyone any favors by letting him scream at the top of his lungs.

Some things I've noticed are that he hasn't been eating as much recently, I think perhaps he's hungry when it's bedtime? He refuses food most of the time, won't eat more than a few spoonfuls/forkfuls at a time. I've heard conflicting tales of oatmeal before bed, so any suggestions on if this is wise would be helpful.

The other thing is that he's outgrowing his pacifier. He'll lay there and chew on it or throw it out of his crib rather than sucking on it. Now, whereas it's awesome that he doesn't want it anymore (and he's chosen to get rid of it on his own) it's also frustrating because he still wants it. But then does the aforementioned once I return it to him. Should I just keep it away from him now?

(I also don't know how a child is supposed to form an attachment to a blanket or toy. I have a blanket and a plush dinosaur he only ever has at bedtime, but he doesn't seem bothered by them. Might it be that he's not the 'security blanket' type baby? Or is he still too young?)

Noob questions perhaps, but I'm at my wits end. Running on empty and with a cold to boot.

crying

What did they say at his followup appointment? It sounds to me like he's still sick or possibly some other ailment bothering him. What medications was on, etc? I honestly would be calling his pediatrician because it doesn't sound like he's feeling better and having trouble sleeping.

Feeding him before bedtime isn't a bad thing if it's not through a bottle. If he's hungry and having a hard time eating during the day, you can try a light snack before bed.

Honestly, I would just throw out the pacifier. If he's just really toying with it, it's not really worth the trouble of trying to force it on him and he's at the age where they don't need it. As for attachments to toys, that's just how kids are. You can try to do a certain one, but kids are funny, independant creatures. My ds has a duckie blanket since he was born, he NEVER wanted it. Turned out his first "lovey" was a C3P0 beanie toy.

Some kids also don't like plushies to sleep with. My other ds liked to go to bed with cars and stuff. Some kids just aren't the attachment type to those things. There's not a specific process to develop attachments, they happen or they don't, and it's not indicitive of anything if they do or do not.