challenge #3: a little sleep here, please!

Those who know me know that I like my sleep. In college, my roommate and I were often ridiculed for choosing naps over typical tomfoolery often exhibited by those of that age. I am now an adult with 3 kids. Two of them are sometimes difficult to get into bed and asleep at nighttime, but generally they go willingly and without too much fussing. Then, they sleep soundly through the night and often struggle to face the morning. Let's just say, morning people, not so much!

Then, there is E. Our youngest at 19 months. We try to to head upstairs to read books and rock-a-bye baby by 7:30. He usually goes down fairly easily. It's the staying there that is the problem. E may wake up 1, 2 or even 3 times in a night. Wouldn't be so bad if he were the kind of kid that you could go in and pat his back and whisper words of love and have him go right back to dreamland. Uh, yeah, again, not so much. The child stands up in his crib and cries for one of us to rescue him. He then demands to be picked up, held, and rocked until he falls into a deep sleep. Don't try to put him back down! No, no, no! Oh, and don't be fooled by the dozing with closed eyes. Just move a tad and watch those peepers fly open. You know, it wouldn't be so bad if this process only took 10, 15 or even 20 minutes, but it often takes him an hour or longer to actually fall completely back to sleep. And then get this: He wakes up anywhere between 5 and 7 in the morning all happy and giggly and full of energy. Not like we could sleep in anyway -- got a 2nd grader who needs to be up and at the bus stop by 8. It would just be nice if he woke up kind of slowly and quietly. Instead, it's more like having a lovable puppy wake you up when all you want to do is sleep -- lot's of wet sloppy kisses, running around, and cries of "mama, mama, mama!"

When J was a baby and had sleep issues -- he HATED his crib -- we put him in bed with us. Worked fine. E, however, thinks it is play time if he comes in with us. I've tried laying down on the floor by his crib (oh, now that's comfortable) but that wasn't good enough. He shares a room with S, who is in a twin bed, and there is no room for a recliner or other piece of comfy furniture. Sharing a room also means that we need to reduce the amount of vocal expression so that he doesn't wake up his sister.

The ironic part of all this is that back before E became attached to us he didn't want our help going back to sleep. In fact, he used to scoot into the corner of his crib and pretend we didn't exist. (Hey, maybe if I don't look at them, they will go away!) Well, now he is very well-attached and can't seem to do without mama or daddy when attempting to snooze. So, this really is a good thing even though it is creating bags under my eyes and making me quite cranky.

The big question is: How do I make it better? Shorten nap time during the day? Wear him out more so that he is just dog-tired? Encourage self-soothing even though it may keep the house awake for hours but possibly work in the long run? Just wait it out and it will get better with time?

Ok, help me out here and give me your solutions. How can we (ok, me, M and E) sleep better without jeopardizing attachment? (In other words, don't suggest Ferberizing. Not gonna do it. Also, moving his crib to our room really won't work as M gets up in the middle of the night to get ready for work. Besides, I don't think that will solve the pick-me-up problem.) Come on my cyber friends, help me get some sleep!
:)