Darned If You Do, Darned If You Don't

Here's Lexi's current schedule:

With Nap
7 a.m. - 8 a.m. Wake up
12 noon - lunch
1 p.m. - Nap
3 p.m. - 4 p.m. - Wake up
6 p.m. - 7 p.m. - Dinner
Every other night bathe
9 p.m. - Bed
Here's the kicker. We put her in bed at 9. Actual fall asleep time? 10 p.m. - 11 p.m. Then, up from 2 a.m. - 4 a.m.

Without Nap
Everything is the same except that from 5 p.m. - 8 p.m. (she goes to bed an hour early if she doesn't nap) she cries almost continuously. I'm not exaggerating. Every suggestion, every tv show, trying to have dinner, having a conversation, sitting on the couch in the wrong way, the dogs going in or out at the wrong time, etc. brings on sobbing. Then, she has night terrors throughout the night - she just screams, won't answer questions, can't listen, sobs and gasps. It takes around 15 minutes to 1/2 an hour to calm her down. Usually, it happens 3 times a night when they happen. We did some research and they can be brought on by stress (hmmm..think a new baby in the house might be stressing her out and rather than acting out, she stuffs it inside?) and exacerbated because of lack of sleep.

So we pay for it either way. One way she's literally up all of the night. The other, for 3 hours she is a total pill and then screaming inconsolably during the rest of the night.

Kids are a real pleasure and a joy, aren't they?