by Becky Vieira posted in Parenting

If my son doesn?t poop he can?t sleep. And if he doesn?t seep our entire house is thrown into disarray. I hate chaos, so we generally end up waiting for him.
To poop, that is. We wait for him to poop ? if that wasn?t clear.
It?s not that he has to poop that's a problem. It?s when. Twice a day, right before he naps and goes to bed. And if we don?t wait for the poop before we put him down, he won?t sleep.
He will talk, fuss, even scream. Essentially he'll do anything except sleep. As soon as we take him from his crib he finds a quiet corner and does his business. We learned this the hard way, after many missed naps. And a few nights when we had to perform the entire nighttime routine twice.
Finally we came to accept that we need to wait out the "event." As soon as it happens we can usher him in for his nap or to bed. It makes sense. No one can relax, or sleep, when they are on the precipice of bathroom visit. Or in their diapers, as is his case.
So we sit. And time passes. Until he finally he stops what he?s doing. Stands perfectly still as his tiny faces turns a dark shade of pink. And I can finally relax, because I know what?s next. He poops. Next, he can can sleep. And I can finally stop waiting.
It?s bizarre. Funny. And now just an unspoken part of our daily routine that I don?t think much about anymore. He has lunch or dinner. Plays a bit while we wait. He goes to the bathroom. Then we can begin our sleep routine.
Though i...