Monday, May 30, 2011
Help! It has happened. Sloan has started to rebel against bedtime. With Adriel it started when he learned how to climb out of his crib, and with his new found freedom came my new found slavery. Eventually with a lot of tears on both our parts, we over came it, but I vowed that I never wanted to go through it that way again.
So here's how it all started with Sloan. Sloan had been a little obedient angel when it came to bedtime. He'd go down with out a fuss for naps and bedtime. I worried once he learned how to climb out of his crib, he would be the same as Adriel. After he figured out how to climb out (which was almost a good six months later than Adriel, fewf!) he still didn't rebel. He stayed in bed til I got him out, and if I ever felt it was too early for him to get up I'd tell him to lay down, and more often than not, he'd go back to sleep or at least leave me alone for a while. But then everything changed. The weather got pretty warm here (it's not now though, and can I just say how frustrating I find the fluctuation?!!! Do I need summer clothes or winter clothes? I had enough of it by the winter's end, which I felt I endured quite patiently, given the mild type of winter I'm used to. Now my patience is up. It's almost June, start acting like it- ALL the time, not sometimes!!! argh- sorry, needed to vent about that apparently) so back to the weather. It got warm. And when it's warm, the upstairs bakes like an oven. I can't open the windows in the poor kids rooms because there are no screens on them, so I let them have the fans. Even with the window open it was hot in our room, so Kyle put the air conditioner up. Sloan woke up in the middle of the night, crying, which is usually pretty easy to fix, I just go in and tell him to lie down and go back to bed. But this night, his crying wasn't heard right away because of the noise from our air conditioner. When I did finally hear him, he was really worked up. I went into his room and he had climbed out of his crib. We have black out curtains on, so his room was pitch black and he was disoriented from that I think, which added to his fear. When I picked him up, he clung to me. It took me a good hour to get him settled and back to sleep. He kept calling me for things and crying, and in order for me to hear him, I had to stay out in the hallway. That was it. Things never went back to normal after that.
The next day, when I put him down for a nap, he wouldn't let me. He cried and cried whenever I tried to lay him down in his bed. I would leave the room and he would immediately climb out and try to open the door. I had to stand outside his door and hold it closed so he wouldn't come out. I hoped he would give up, but I have stubborn children! He lied down in front of the door and cried and cried. I let it go on for a while, but like I just said my kids are stubborn. I prayed, panicking to Heavenly Father- please don't make me go through this again, please help me know what to do! With Adriel I learned that you don't give into things that you don't want to have to repeat every time you put them to bed. So after thinking about it for a while, I got down on the floor and talked to him through the door. I told him that it was nap time and that he needed to go to sleep in his bed. He said no. He said he wanted to sleep in my bed. At first I was against the idea, but after a few times going back and forth with him, I said, "if you want to sleep in my bed, you have to say in my bed and be quiet and go to sleep by yourself." He agreed. And he did. He was sound asleep with in five minutes.
I don't want to bore you with all the details, but he's been going to sleep in my room ever since. I tell him at bed time that we are going to move him when Mommy and Daddy go to bed and he says "OK" but he's not always OK with it. I've since been trying to get him to sleep in Adriel's room, because we've had that goal in mind for the future anyway. He wakes up crying in the night, saying he wants to sleep in my bed- I know some Moms can handle that, I can't so I don't let him. They wake each other up super early, Adriel doesn't always want to share his bed (even though its a bunk bed, Sloan sometimes wants to sleep in the same bed with Adriel, which seems fine, because there's tons of room) which results in cranky whiney boys and a crabby Mother who has no tolerance. Today I started the "You aren't allowed out of your room til 7." I realize that getting them to follow this rule will take some time and in the meantime, it really doesn't mean extra sleep for me though because I kept having to get up and reinforce it. I don't know if there's any hope for that or if I'm just wasting my time.
What am I supposed to do??? I know there are people out there who have the transition from crib to bed go smoothly. What am I doing wrong??? I need the super nanny to come to my house. I need someone else to get up with the kids in the morning. Kyle gives me one day off a week, and I feel bad, because he's working two jobs and is so tired all the time. If my kids slept til 7- 7:30 every I'd be good.
I'm feeling pretty grouchy today. It's Monday, it's raining boooooooooo.
5 comments
Sarahstottle posted @ 7:29 AM
Comments:
frustrating! i think you should write to the super nanny and see what she says. :) maybe start some sort of before bedtime ritual that let's him know he's safe and that you are there etc. i also one similar thing on super nanny once. i'll tell you about it if you want.
aw poor stott! Not getting enough sleep is the worst--and it's an even more bitter pill since he was so good at sleeping before! Poor little sloan. I can't think of anything off the top of my head, but I can look in that book (the power of positive parenting) and see if there's something in there.
http://www.embracethechaos.ca/2011/05/the-sleep-doulas-top-five-craziest-toddler-antics-and-how-to-get-them-to-sleep.html
# posted by 
: 9:52 AM
: 9:52 AM
I've got no advice - we're in the same boat here (in terms of early risers). Since the time change, we have 3 kids up between 6 and 6:30 every morning. It's GROSS. I've finally given up - and started going to the gym at 6:30. But I've had to change my bad habit of staying up til midnight, and have started going to bed at 10.
This is probably not helpful!! I hope things get better for you soon. It is hard to be sleep deprived!!!!! :(
This is probably not helpful!! I hope things get better for you soon. It is hard to be sleep deprived!!!!! :(
Sarah,
Asher did this when we moved to Korea, he wont sleep on his own bed and Sam loves to snuggle, but Asher doesn't like snuggling him. Grrr. anyway I started moving Asher to the floor, he has a blanket and pillow next to my bed. we've been moving towards his room. but my kids are all up by 6:30 and I have to be in bed by 10. some nights I go down at 8:30. I feel like an old woman. but being old is better than being cranky.
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Asher did this when we moved to Korea, he wont sleep on his own bed and Sam loves to snuggle, but Asher doesn't like snuggling him. Grrr. anyway I started moving Asher to the floor, he has a blanket and pillow next to my bed. we've been moving towards his room. but my kids are all up by 6:30 and I have to be in bed by 10. some nights I go down at 8:30. I feel like an old woman. but being old is better than being cranky.