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.
6 comments:
Brody HATES to have his door locked, so sometimes I used to tell him that if he came out of his room one more time, that I am going to put the lock on the door, or take poochie away (does Zack have a poochie?). At one time, we put a night light in his room. That seemed to help. But really, we just kept taking him back to his bed. The supernanny says this:
On the first time he comes out, just put him back in his room and say "It's bedtime Zack".
The next time, take him back to his room and say "Bedtime".
The third time, take him back and don't say anything.
The family on the show had to do it 17 times, but it only took 45 minutes, then, their little girl who had NEVER slept in her own bed all night, went to sleep in her own bed.
You could plan a night to do it... you know, make yourself a drink, have it upstairs with you, watch a movie or something in your room (tv in your room?) and just keep taking him back.
That is all I have to give ya! Sorry!
J
You know Jen, I think you're onto something here. Zach doesn't have a poochie, BUT....he has a paci. I think we will try this tonight. If you come in Mommy and Daddy's room, you can't have a paci. We'll only let him have his paci in HIS room. You're brilliant! :)
PS: We also tried the nightlight, but he just unplugs it, plugs it back in (which is scary). We allow him to leave his light on (and now the TV) and we even leave the hall light on (probably why if you look over at our house at night you think we own the electric company!) If this doesn't work, I'm calling in Supernanny! We thought initially he was afraid of the dark....but realized he was playing us because if we lay him in our bed, in the dark, he will lay there just fine and fall asleep. Man, where do these kids learn this stuff!
Hey rachel its Stacie & I understand where your comming from with trying to keep Zack in bed, I sometimes have that same problem with Jared, does he have a gate on his room, we use a see through gate that keeps him in, if he does wake up to turn his light on or turn the tv on than go in quietly w/out talking and turn it off & put him back to bed, just make sure the gate is low enough where he cant get under, we had that problem with jared when we switched the rooms around & he kept crawling under it the first week and comming down stairs to sleep with me. I hope it works out Love All OF US
Rachel,
I can tell you from years of sleepness nights, Take care of this situation now!! Jessica slept in my room until she was... I am so embarrassed to admit this but ok till she was(ten). I finally took her to a sleep specialist and the answer is so simple yet so painful to do. DO NOT LET HIM IN YOUR BED. It's a good idea to establish a bedtime routine and follow it every night, and when he wakes up and wants to come in, you just have to put him back in his room. I suggest you and Sam share the load (one parent for one night etc). You won't get much sleep for however long it takes, but he will eventually create a new sleep pattern for himself that does not include your bedroom. Kids are so smart, he knows if he tells you he is afraid of something you will rescue him, just asure him that the funder will not hurt him or anyone. Be persistant, do not get angry, do not try to reason with him just simply say its time to go to bed and gently place him in his own bed. I know for a fact this is the only way you will get Zach to sleep in his own bed. It is truly harder on the parents than the child. (He is used to crying to get his way), we on the otherhand will do anything to get sleep.
Best of Luck,
Donna
How did it go threatening to take away the paci? Did it work? We actually had an evening that we took Poochie away (which we couldn't believe we were doing!). It was a LONG night of crying and coming to our room. Eventually he fell asleep and he didn't came out again on subsequent nights when he realized I was serious that I would take Poochie away.
Stick to your guns! He will realize soon enough that you all mean business!
Welllll, the paci thing SORT of worked....LOL...
The first night we tried it was Friday and of course he came into our room - I took the paci away and said if he wanted to stay in Mommy and Daddy's room, he couldn't have a paci. So he brought his pillow and blanket to the door and slept in the doorway. We picked him up awhile later and put him in his bed, and when he came into our room a couple hours later, I said the same thing - he handed over the paci, climbed in bed with me and went to sleep. Hmmm. Last night, he did *pretty* good - came out of his room a couple times, but around 2:45 AM he came into our room, I went to put him back in his room, realized he had wet his bed (ugh.) So being the exhausted mom that I am (I painted that bathroom all day yesterday...lol) I changed his diaper and threw him in our bed rather than changing his sheets. So... we're going to keep trying it. I think this will work. Bribery, threatening, reasoning, screaming, spanking (lol), and everything else does not seem to be working .... so we'll see. I'll keep ya posted! If you see me doing S-O-S with my bedroom lights, you know it didn't work and I'm going crazy! (heheee)
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