Hey so this may seem like a super super boring topic to write about, but I'm a medical student and where I work currently, I see this problem on a daily basis. I just had to write something about it. Not only was it a super cute idea, but it's definitely a more common problem than most parents think. I'm so sorry, this is terrible and I hope it doesn't bore you to tears. Thanks for reading though.
There was nothing more perplexing to Draco than his newborn son.
This tiny little wonder, this bundle of sweetness.
How did he have any part in creating something so pure? So good?
A baby, a little boy, who was always so ready to nurse and so favoring to his blue blanket and so…
Unwilling to sleep.
It was true, no matter what Draco and Astoria did for him Scorpius was the worst sleeper in the entire world. He fussed and fussed, cried, needed changing, suckled for one more feeding, cried some more, needed to be rocked, wanted snuggles. His parents were exhausted. Purely exhausted. So many sleepless nights ticked by of Draco and Astoria taking turns to go comfort him and feed him and change him. But it was beginning to wear on them. Draco had fallen asleep sitting up at tea one morning and Astoria's body was physically weakening with each passing night of screams. They had to do something. Anything.
So the Malfoy parents naturally consulted with their elders for advice, considering they'd had Draco and since Draco and his son shared DNA, they might have some insight as to what had helped him sleep. But unfortunately, the young parents did not receive much help from Lucius, who'd simply stated "Parents sacrifice unimaginable amounts for their children—a few less hours of sleep is nothing to complain over." Draco had felt a sting of guilt with that comment. Narcissa hadn't much to offer either after that, only that Astoria should consider bottle feeding before bedtime instead.
What else was there to try? After another six days of horribly disrupted sleep patterns, Astoria and Draco dragged themselves into the doctor's office to consult with him for tips on how to quell their crying baby. It felt like the wait was endless just for the pediatric-trained Healer to set foot in the room. Draco nearly fell asleep sitting in the chair. However the moment the provider asked them what brought their family in to see him, Astoria burst into an exhausted fit of emotional tears. "I'm failing as a mother!" she cried out. "I can't comfort my baby and he's tired and I'm tired and my husband's tired and it's all my fault!" Draco could absolutely tell that his wife's breakdown was induced by sheer tiredness. He'd give anything to allow for her to have a restful night for once…
Apparently the Healer realized this about her too. He instantly assured the parents that some babies were just terrible sleepers by birth—and that it wasn't anyone's fault. Babies cried—it was their way of communicating with their parents. They didn't quite understand the world yet, much less what was night and what was day. "However," he went on to say, "That doesn't mean that you're doomed to sleepless nights for the rest of your lives. There's been much research done about children and their sleep patterns. Let me provide you with one of the best books, written by Coralyne Caldwell…"
That night, Draco sat in the rocking chair with the book open on his lap. Astoria had Scorpius in her arms. "Avoid exposure to light so that your child knows that nighttime is for sleeping," Draco read aloud. He looked up, and with a wave of his wand he extinguished the softly glowing candles in the room. "Speak in hushed voices for an hour prior to bedtime, so as not to excite your child," he whispered. Astoria gave him a nod—they'd been doing so for the last forty-five minutes. Very, very gently, she laid the bundle down into the crib and covered his tiny feet with his blanket. Scorpius cooed softly—but his eyes were closed. After a moment of ensuring that he wasn't immediately waking, Astoria signaled to Draco and the pair crept (ever so quietly) out of the nursery. "We did it!" Astoria mouthed once outside the door.
Within another hour though, just as Draco and Astoria had settled into their own beds, the cry rang out through the manor. Draco reflexively reached for the book on the bedside table in the darkness and opened it. He read through sleepy eyes, "Let your child cry without receiving instant gratification. Don't intervene too soon." Astoria gave an exhausted sigh beside him. The crying carried on. After five minutes, Astoria made to get up out of bed. Draco blindly reached out to her. "Not yet!" he reminded, "He knows you'll be coming for him!" Astoria rubbed her eyes. "He's crying, he needs something," she sleepily argued. "He wants something," Draco corrected. "That's what the book says. He just wants your attention. Give him five more minutes." Seemingly too tired to carry on the fight, Astoria flopped back down into the bed. And amazingly, within that next five minutes, the crying reduced to soft coos and baby sounds. Draco sighed in relief. Maybe this wasn't so bad after all.
After a few nights, the parents tried everything they had previously been doing to ensure a good night's sleep. While Scorpius was still awakening several times in the night, they were determined to continue working on what the book was suggesting. However this night, Scorpius was not having any of it. By nearly 1:30am, he was awake and screaming. "He does usually want to feed around now," Astoria conceded as she sat up. But Draco already had the book in hand and was squinting to read it. "Don't make nighttime feedings interesting," he said aloud. "Reduce talking to your baby, feed him, and then put him back to bed without cuddling or cooing." Astoria shot Draco a look through the darkness as she pulled on her robe. "That's impossible and inhumane," she snapped. Draco pointed at the page in the book, earning an exasperated sigh from his wife, followed by an un-stiflable yawn. Though she wouldn't like it, she would try it. Some of these things eventually had to work, right?
It wasn't long before the lack of sleep began taking its toll on Astoria physically. Though she tried to get up to feed Scorpius extremely early one morning, her joints failed her. She crumpled back down to the mattress with a wince of pain. Draco immediately went to his son's aid—he'd do anything to just let Astoria have some rest. It was beginning to become so frustrating. Anything and everything they tried just didn't work well enough for the alert newborn to put him to sleep. He just wouldn't settle. It was constant crying. Draco tried to offer him a bottle; he didn't stop crying to feed. He then attempted to hush the screaming baby; Scorpius couldn't hear the soothing sound over his own noise. Draco tried changing Scorpius's diaper; it wasn't even soiled in the first place. He even reached into the crib, breaking protocol, and held the baby in his arms to bounce and rock him. Scorpius still didn't want to calm down. Draco tried everything over and over again for nearly thirty minutes. Nothing was helping. Exasperated, he set Scorpius down in his crib, went back to his own room, and returned to the nursery carrying Astoria's robe. Maybe, just maybe…
The moment he snuggled the robe around Scorpius, close to his little face, he watched his son breathe in the scent of mama. And the crying quelled. Finally.
Several weeks later, Draco awoke to the sound of baby babbling from the next room over. Astoria was finally sleeping through it. The nighttime disturbances had greatly subsided with the addition of their baby rules, and things were becoming much more manageable now. Draco didn't mind getting up every now and then if it meant Astoria could sleep uninterrupted. A wail erupted next door. Draco quietly got up to go boringly silence the boy. He wordlessly went into the room, found that Scorpius had knocked his stuffed teddy bear onto the floor out of his crib, and quickly replaced it. It was the teddy bear that Lucius always remarked upon, saying "Why not a stuffed dragon, something from his world?". Draco silently cast a warming charm upon the toy for comfort. Before Scorpius could notice that it was his father that had aided him, Draco stepped back out of sight. He observed quietly as his perplexing son held the warm toy, babbled a bit, then closed his little eyes.
It was then that Draco realized that perhaps as Scorpius got older, it might get a little easier. He let out a quiet sigh so as not to disturb the sleeping child. Draco relaxed his tense grip on the slightly worn book by Coralyn Caldwell that had been carried into this nursery time and time again, grateful that they'd stuck through it and constructed a routine (albeit a bit odd) for their new baby. Draco felt himself smiling a little as Scorpius's tiny lips made a small suckling motion as he dreamed. He certainly was a perplexing child. But worth every trial and error Draco had been through in his entire life.