As many of you know ~ or don't because I haven't blogged in forever ~ Al and I have both been struggling with Becky going to bed on time. She has become a master staller and somehow ends up not going to bed until 9:30 or 10 and then waking up crying in the morning because she's so tired. Well...this week we decided we would just make her go to bed and let her cry. Monday night her and I did our bedtime routine for 30 minutes. I asked her if she wanted to rock three times. She did not. At 8:30, of course, she did. I left her in her crib standing up crying. I then got on the internet to make sure I was doing the right thing. It's so hard to listen to your child scream at the top of their lungs for you! I went and checked on her in 15 minutes. I had calmed down by then, because as you can imagine, Al and I both are at our wits end by the time we leave the room at night trying to make her go to sleep. I realized something had to change when she was playing with a bear telling it, "Go to sleep. It's ridiculous!" That's when I knew maybe our "routine" wasn't working out so well. I tell you what, it's really humbling to see your child playing back the way they see something happen. They are so always paying attention. Anyway.. at 9 on the first night, I hear, "I wanna lay down!" I went up, she laid down, and I covered her up. It only took 15 minutes the second night and 10 the next before she was ready to lay down after screaming.
Tonight...she's in her crib without the railing. I had asked her if she wanted a big girl bed and she said yes. So I took off the footrail tonight. She hasn't gotten out of bed once! Granted I'm paranoid and she would so be asleep if I hadn't checked on her five times to make sure she hadn't fallen out. There is no guardrail on it, so I'm sure I will be a nervous wreck all night. She seems to really like it though. The only time she cried out was when one of her pillows fell on the floor and she wanted me to get it. The last time I checked on her, I heard something fall. Granted, there was no crying or screaming so I should have left her alone. However, the paranoia made me think, what if she is unconscious and can't? Of course the bang wasn't that loud. It was her book I told her she could keep in bed to look at if she stayed in bed. She did, the book didn't!
So I think my baby girl is growing up to be a little girl. While I am sure her staying in the bed this first night is a little bit of a fluke, I'm going to pray it stays this way for a while!
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2 comments:
I am glad it is getting better. I don't know if Mandy had this much foresight (And if you ask her I bet she would say she did) but she set up a nightly routine for Nolan when he was just 2 weeks old. It is was always bottle, bath, book, bedtime. The bottle went away and some nights it is Bob the Builder book, bunny book, aBc book. Most nights are very uneventful but we had no idea how good we had it until Nolan's cousin came with no routine at all. I know exactly what you mean when you say she is good at stalling because a kid can do that without even trying. Good luck and stick with it, you are doing the right thing and the benefits go well beyond your sanity
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Steve. Mandy sure had it right! Becky has always had a routine too, she just managed to get it from 15 minutes to an hour without us even realizing it! What a stinker!
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