An unsettling new development: Archer sits up in his sleep and can't get himself back down. Two nights ago I went in to feed him at about 3am and nearly jumped out of my pjs when I opened the door and found him upright and whining piteously. It was a little freaky, like coming around a corner and having a stranger staring right at you as if he's been expecting you. After I nursed him, he went right back into deep slumber and awoke four hours later -- again, sitting -- and this time (thankfully) began to play and babble.
But last night he woke up twice -- each time shrieking -- unable to return to the prone position. Mercifully, my husband finally assisted him, but he had become so disturbed that he just wailed and squirmed, inevitably popping back up into a seated position in need of rescue. I lay in bed listening and fretting that this particular developmental stage would undo all of our hard-earned sleep training, as Arch seemed unable to soothe himself out of his predicament and was losing precious sleep (both mine and his, damnit).
So now the question of parental interference arises -- should we let him make his own attempts at returning to sleep from his little Buddha pose, or should we aid him until he gets more proficient at such movements during his waking hours?