We co-slept with Ren for the first 9 months, and had him in our bedroom (and our bed, when necessary) until 15 months. He was in his own room (but, due to the layout of our house, still only about 7 feet away from our bed) for a few months, then back in our room, and finally back in his own room about six months ago. Throughout all our different configurations he has been a really good sleeper (8:30pm - 7:30 am solid) for at least a year...up until the last week or so.
Lately we put him to bed (same routine as always), and 10 - 30 minutes later he wanders downstairs saying "I woke up!" It's a fight to get him back into his bed, as he wants to be in Mommy's bed (or Daddy's, depending on which one of us he's talking to.)
I don't think he's developed any new fears, nor do I think his sleep schedule has changed drastically (meaning I'm pretty sure he's tired well before 10 or 10:30 when we finally get him to sleep,) but tonight he went above and beyond.
8:30 pm
We go through the bedtime routine. (Change diaper, put on jammies, wash up, brush teeth, read scriptures, read 2 - 3 stories, pray, get in bed.)
Ren: "The door is NOT stuck!" (Meaning: Mommy, don't close the door!)
Me: "Okay, I will leave the door open, but if you come downstairs, I'm going to close the door, okay?"
Ren: "Okay."
8:40 pm
I hear him coming down the stairs.
Me: "If I see you down here then I'll take you back upstairs and close your door."
Ren: "But I want to be happy!"
Me: ??? (I repeat what I already said.)
Ren: (Walks all the way downstairs.)
Me: (I go pick him up.)
Ren: "But I want to be happy!!!"
Me: "Well, you need to be happy in bed."
Ren: "No, I want to be happy downstairs."
Me: "I'm sorry. You need to be happy in bed."
Ren: (Very upset. We go up to his room.)
Me: "How can I help you be happy in bed?"
Ren: "I want a light."
Me: "Okay, I can turn on a light for you" (which I promptly take care of.) "Let's sing your bedtime song and say another prayer to ask Heavenly Father to help you be happy in bed" (which we did).
Ren: (Climbs back into bed under his own steam.) "Mommy, the door is not stuck."
Me: "Okay. I'll leave your light on and your door open, but you HAVE to stay in bed. If you come downstairs again, the door WILL be closed."
Ren: "Okay Mommy."
10:00 pm
(I could hear him talking to himself and banging his foot against the wall, but he stayed up there for a while.)
Ren comes downstairs.
I told Robb it was his turn.
Robb picked Ren up and held him.
Robb: "You are in time out since you didn't listen to Mommy."
Ren: "But, I want to be happy!"
Robb: "Well, you can be downstairs and be in timeout, or you can be upstairs in bed. Those are your choices."
Ren: "I want Mommy!"
Robb: "Mommy is not a choice right now." (Repeated the choices. I got up and hid in the kitchen.)
I then listened to Robb and Ren talking for about 5 minutes. It went something like this, repeated about ten times:
Ren: (crying) "But, I want to be happy!"
Robb: "Are you happy?"
Ren: "Yes!" (As he cries.)
Robb: "Okay. Like I said, you can stay here in my lap on timeout, or you can go upstairs to bed."
Ren: (still crying) "But, I want to be happy downstairs!"
Robb: "Are you happy right now?"
Ren: "Yes!" (As he cries.)
Robb: "Okay. Like I said, you can stay here in my lap on timeout, or you can go upstairs to bed."
Etc.
Ren finally chose to go up to bed, at which point Robb took him up, turned off the light, and closed the door. And Ren went to sleep!
The whole thing was funny (I was laughing my head off in the kitchen), but it's also very frustrating. Why won't he stay in bed?????
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Blessed
We live in an old house that has settled unevenly over the years. As a result, some windows and doors stick while others are difficult to ke...
4 comments:
LOVED all your blog postings today, but this one was the topper. I don't have the slightest idea what's causing his change of habits, nor do I have any suggestions for stopping it - just "GOOD LUCK!" I'm sure you'll have it licked before the next one gets here; that's about all the encouragement I can give. (It really was funny but I can understand how it was really frustrating too.)
My kids have all gone through random phases like this. Sometimes, I think it just clicks that they have free agency and can try to change what is happening to them. Does he still take naps in the day? My daughter can't take naps anymore because she'll stay up til midnight if she gets one. (She's 3 but has been doing this since 2.5.) She is so tired by 4 that if she sits still for 5 mins she'll fall asleep but then even if she sleeps for only half an hour, she is just awake enough to force herself to stay awake. Good luck. Messed up sleep schedules are one of the more frustrating parts of parenting for me.
He IS still taking naps, mostly because I'm pregnant and tired and it's the only time I can take a nap, too. Some days he's so tired he falls asleep on the way home from the babysitter, other days he's not that tired. I don't know, maybe I should cut off the naps. (But I don't want to!)
Will went through a getting-out-of-bed phase. He still does give us some trouble. One of the things we do is a walkie-talkie baby monitor. He could say, "Mommy, are you there?" and I could answer, and he didn't have to get out of bed to get reassurance. The other thing we let him do is read books until he wants to go to sleep. He's only had a hard time with that a handful of times. He'll usually put himself to sleep within a half an hour.
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