Missing: One Adorable Boy Who Sleeps

I miss this little guy. Who knew he'd turn
into a terrible sleeper later on in life.

Somehow within the last month, the sweet, adorable, well-mannered child that was known as Jeremy has gone missing. In his place is a foul, ill-mannered, boy who refuses to sleep at night. It's been draining on the family as a whole. He's waking Riley, who can literally sleep through practically anything. Last night, I think Phil and I slept three or four hours total. It's worse than having a newborn because at least with a newborn you expect this. A newborn doesn't shout from its room: "I don't want to go to sleep."

We are literally at our wits' end.

I feel bad for all our guests. My cousin came to spend the night earlier this month, and although she didn't complain, I know Jeremy kept her awake both nights she was here. I joke that Jeremy is the best form of birth control--nobody wants a child after spending the night at our house. And then grandma spent the night last week, and he woke her as well. It's draining. It's exhausting.

And the smackdown isn't working. I don't want to be one of those parents that hits their child, but even that isn't working. To counteract the lack of sleep, he's been napping during the day, and we're waking him after about 1.5 hours.

If anyone has any suggestions, I'm to the point where I'm in desperate need of sleep. The defiance stinks. The attitude is discouraging.

I joke that when he's a teenager, I'm going to go into his room and consistently wake him. Phil thinks why wait--we should start doing it now. I just want to sleep. Is that too much to ask?