My sweet, innocent (yea, right), cute, cuddly, first-born will not stay in his bed. Apparently he always hears funder. And he's scared of funder in case you didn't know.
Let's see. Some of the things we've tried:
1) Bringing him back to his bed. Again. And again. And again.
2) Reasoning and explaining why he needs to go to sleep.
3) Screaming and spanking (okay, that's an exaggeration).
4) New comforter/sheets (CARS, of course.) Apparently this helps the kid feel more "comfortable" in his surroundings.
5) We even splurged on the Lightning McQueen lamp!!
6) We bought him a tv/dvd player for his room.
7) We took the advice of DOCTOR PHIL and bought the "sure-thing" "fail-proof" Nighty-Night video - which I even had express shipped, I was so excited at the prospect of a full night of sleep. (For those of you who haven't heard of this - it's a video of animals playing. As the time goes on, the music gets slower, the screen gets darker, and eventually the animals are asleep. The there is a sky/stars on the screen.) Righhhht.
We've even sunk to this level: BRIBERY.
You would *think* that a 3 year old who loves CARS cars would be in 7th Heaven at the prospect of getting a car JUST for staying in his room. We've offered him one car. Two cars. EVEN three cars. JUST TO STAY IN HIS ROOM! We tell him he doesn't even have to sleep - just stay in there. Mind you, this deprived little boy has a train table, tons of toys and books and a whole box of cars in his room. But there is the scary funder in the dark (nevermind the fact we have told him he could keep his light on.)
As I'm writing this, he has sneaked into mommy and daddy's room and climbed into bed and under the covers. Quietly, of course (as if I won't know.) As soon as he falls asleep, I'll gently lift him up and take him to his room. But in a few hours.....he'll be right back.
The worst part about it....is Sam and I are the ones who are up all night. The kid just doesn't sleep vertically. Either his elbow is in Sam's face, or his foot is in my back....we're the ones who are up all night moving around HIM. At 9:00 in the morning, when I'm working ... I see him STILL lying there, this sweet angelic smile on his sleeping face and I want to ... wake him up!
This can't continue!
Please someone.....can you give me a suggestion? Everyone tells me, just keep putting him back in his bed. My neighbor tells me it may take months (gasp!) I can't relive newbornism ....I have done my share of up-every-two-hours! This is not fair and I didn't sign up for it! I love how NO Mommy friends will ever tell you that this happens. That your adorable little 2-year old turns into a maniac. Not until you're going through it and then they all let out the truth..... "oh yeah, well, I'd been meaning to tell you"! Thanks for the heads up, friends! :) I am telling all you moms-to-be out there...BE PREPARED!
Well I just thought I'd let everyone in on our pain. Sam's actually been in North Carolina all week - so he's been sleeping good. (Just kidding, honey....I know you're not sleeping well because you can't sleep without me.) <-- Smile! I'm the one who's actually been sleeping pretty good- without Sam in the bed, Zach can pretty much lay horizontally, and there is still room for me.
PS: We even tried telling him he could sleep in our room but on the floor. So the first night, I laid down on the floor with him, to get him comfortable. We brought his comforter in. Took the pillows off mommy and daddy's bed, just so he would feel like he was right there with us. Two hours later I woke up, and I'm still on the floor, and he's in the bed. Yeah, that one didn't work so well.
