When Bad Things Happen to Perfectly Good Sleepers

When L was first born she was very colicky.  And I mean when she was first born.   Our first night in the hospital she started to scream and it continued for about three and a half months.  The first week we were home from the hospital I got a total of five hours of sleep.  I won't get into details but it was pretty awful and involved a lot of anxiety and crying for all three of us.  Then, when she was around four months I put her in her crib after changing her diaper.  By the time I got back from washing my hands she was asleep, for the first time ever, by herself in her crib.  Hallelujah!  Ever since then, she has been a dream sleeper.  I would put her down for naps or bedtime, no matter where we were, and she would peacefully drift off to sleep.  Then she turned three.  Since then we have had some sleep issues on and off but they usually clear up within a week or two.  Well, it's been well over three weeks now of screaming at bedtime and hours of waking up in the middle of the night.  At first, she was telling us that she was afraid.  Swiper the Fox was to blame for that one.  Once we cleared it up that Swiper was imaginary, monsters were the new thing to be afraid of.  We have now overcome those monsters and it is simply, "I don't want to go to bed!"  She fights and she fights but once she gives in she is asleep in less than five minutes.  But, our girl, who for most of her life has slept 13-14 straight hours a night, now wakes up for up to three hours in the middle of the night.  It's really thoughtful of her to stagger her wake up time with her little brother, that way mommy can be up all night but only have one kid awake at a time.  Yes, that was very sarcastic.  I really do try to be loving and understanding but she is very stubborn and insists that she cannot sleep without ever trying to.  I am at a bit of a loss and just keep telling myself (like I've told so many other moms) that it is just a phase.  Well, phase or not, we all need some sleep around here.