( Parenting.com ) -- A dad looks at how long it really takes a kid to sleep alone : . Getting the baby to sleep is a challenge for many parents . 1:28 a.m. Every couple of hours , Jack ( 2 weeks ) cries . My wife feeds him , then hands him to me to change his diaper . It 's an equitable division of labor , but I wish I could sleep . 2:15 a.m. Jack ( 1 month ) is sleeping between me and my wife because this way she can nurse while she dozes . I 'm happy , but so tired . He 's on his back , and there are no pillows or blankets around him , but I 'm wide-awake , thinking about SIDS . He 's like a little hot-water bottle . His breath is sweet and milky against my face . 10 p.m . I 'm lying on a tiny crib mattress on the floor next to the crib . We 're trying to get Jack ( 9 months ) to sleep through the night . His mother and I take turns lying next to him on the floor and holding his hand through the slats . I miss my wife . 1:36 a.m. Jack ( 12 months ) is sleeping in between us , again . Lying next to his crib did n't work -- Jack kept crying , waking both of us . This way , we all get some sleep . Parenting.com : Dad 's in charge ? Uh oh . 4:27 a.m . I 'm wide-awake because Jack ( 15 months ) kicked me in the groin . I have to get up to drive my wife to New York , then turn around and drive back home with Jack , all on about three hours of sleep . I decide that while his mother is gone , I will Ferberize him . Parenting.com : Ferberizing is not what you think it is . 9:13 p.m. Jack ( 15 months and a day ) is in his crib , crying , crying , crying . 10:11 p.m. Jack ( 15 months and a week ) is in his crib , alone and asleep . Ferberizing worked . Suddenly I have a great idea -- let 's have another baby ! But this would require that my wife and I stay awake for longer than ten seconds once our heads hit the pillows . 12:02 a.m . In bed with my wife , I 'm feeling romantic , but then Jack ( 18 months ) cries out . He has a fever . We give him kids ' Motrin and bring him back into bed with us . He 's burning up . 11:21 p.m. Jack ( 18 months and a week ) is no longer sick , but now he 's back in our bed , every night . It 's once again the only way he 'll go down . 7 a.m . I realize that for the first time , Jack ( 22 months ) has finally slept through the night . Now we have to get him out of diapers and back in his own room . 11:41 p.m. We are lying in an H formation . Jack ( 2 years ) is nestled into his mother 's chest , perpendicular to us , with his feet lodged against my throat , trying to push me off the bed . Freud was right about Oedipus . Parenting.com : Why good dads make moms jealous . 4:25 a.m. Jack ( 3 years ) has kicked the covers off me again and I wake up , shivering . I pull the covers up . He kicks them off . I pull them up . He kicks them off . I go downstairs , turn on the TV , and fall asleep on the couch . 2:15 p.m . I 'm sound asleep , dreaming . Unfortunately , I 'm at work . Tomorrow is Jack 's fourth birthday . Last night in bed , he said , `` Hey , why do I have to sleep in the middle ? '' 7:30 p.m . I am lying in the new twin bed we bought Jack ( 4 1/4 years ) , to show him how it works . We made a big deal of it , his very own Big Boy Bed , and we let him pick out the dinosaur sheets and the dinosaur comforter . All is ready . 12:05 a.m . I 'm in this big empty bed , alone . We told Jack that on his fifth birthday he 'd have to sleep in his own bed , because that 's what big boys do , and he agreed . He wants very much to be a big boy . On his birthday , my wife lay down with him at 8:30 and fell sound asleep . 5:02 a.m . I get up and peek in on Jack ( 5 1/2 ) . He 's been sleeping alone in his room for almost a month now . I get back into bed with my wife and snuggle up next to her . At least I think it 's her -- it 's been a while . She feels good against my skin , but now I miss Jack . I miss getting kicked in the throat . I miss getting the covers pulled off of me . Where 's my little boy ? How did he grow up so fast ? 9:42 p.m . Hearing a noise , my wife and I go upstairs to check on Jack ( 6 ) . He says he was having a bad dream . We lie down with him , three of us in a twin bed . It 's crowded , but if we brought him into our bed again , we 'd never get him out . His breath is still sweet and milky on my cheek . How could this not be okay ? This is my family . Try a FREE TRIAL issue of Parenting Magazine - CLICK HERE ! Copyright 2009 The Parenting Group . All rights reserved . Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited .
Dad recalls dreams of son 's sleep -- and his own not sleeping . Infant son 's fear or dad 's fear of sleep kept him awake . Child has fever , parents put him in their bed . Child wants to sleep in bed . Dad misses boy who now sleeps alone in his big boy bed .