We spend at least 2 hours every night getting Rylan to go to sleep in his own bed. That includes picking up his toys and getting ready for bed but still, TWO HOURS??? I usually end up in tears and Kevin usually ends up sitting in Ry's room until he's asleep...and then of course Rylan comes in our room several times in the middle of the night wanting to get in bed with us. I feel like we've been pretty consistent in what we do, but obviously we are not doing something right!
So guess what I did today? I went and bought a twin size mattress to switch things up. We're going to set it up in his room and put his crib back together. I'm hoping that by giving him the choice of sleeping in the "big boy" bed or the "baby" bed, which ever he chooses he will just sleep! So wish us luck on this new adventure and again, any suggestions are more than welcome!
Well I can't leave on a bad note so let me share with you something cute (even though this has also added time to our bedtime fiasco). The other night after picking up toys I took Rylan into his room to put on his pajamas. I grabbed his pjs out of the drawer and he went back to the drawer and grabbed more pajamas out. At first I thought he didn't like the pair I had picked but then he went to his bed and grabbed his teddy bear backpack and monkey. Before he let me put on his pajamas I had to put pjs on the monkey and bear. Okay, if that makes him feel better sure, I'll send monkey and bear to bed as well. So the three of them are dressed in pjs and ready to brush teeth. Sure enough Ry grabs his little friends and off we go to brush teeth. With a wet toothbrush Rylan scrubbed at their mouths and made sure to get the back, front, top and bottom. I thought it was very cute how thorough he was! Task complete. Off to Ry's room to say prayers. I sit down and Rylan hands me the monkey and tells me to fold his arms. Then in a whisper he says "monkey, close eyes". Hmmm, that's a little tricky. So I put my hand over monkey's eyes and Ry put his hand over the bear's eyes. Whew, it's now time to crawl into bed. If only Rylan followed the lead of monkey and bear on this next task I wouldn't be so tired--he tucked them into bed and they stayed there the rest of the night...Rylan however did not. But it sure was cute for him to get them ready for bed. And yes, monkey and bear get their teeth brushed and say prayers with us each and every night!
7 comments:
That's a cute little story. As far as getting him into bed, have you tried locking him in his room? I know it sounds cruel, but we had to do it to Sydney for a while. Of course, once she was asleep we would quietly undo it so that she wasn't locked in anymore. I know you're pretty tenderhearted, but you might want to give it a shot. Worked for us.
By the way, there were times where Sydney fell asleep crying in front of the door (sad), but she did finally learn.
I think this was about the point I started locking Seara in and letting her cry it out, too. Ouch. I figured, though, that in the long run it was better to have a week of crying it out than four years of my putting her to bed like a crank. Once she was used to just going to bed, she never fought me again. Phew! With Elijah we locked it from day 1 (when he was excited about the bed), and since he never knew the difference it was never a problem. Honestly, though, I think you should do what feels right for you and Rylan. Good luck!!
Wow.. sounds like Kyle and Ry are in the same boat. I wish I had advice. I haven't felt like I could lock Kyle in his room like some of your friends have because of him being scared of the dark..I don't want to scar him for life.
I'll just email you so you don't have a huge long comment. Does Ry still take naps? I do have to say the days I've cut out the naps, we've had no problem getting him to go to bed.
That is really cute on getting his friends ready for bed too.
We told Ben if he kept getting out of bed we would lock his door. The threat alone was enough to get him to stay in. We never had to actually lock it. Never go to sleep leaving it locked though. You never know when he might really need you. Shut the door for sure though- don't mess with leaving it cracked or he will be able to hear you awake and want to stay awake as well. Get a good night light so he isn't scared of the dark. Maybe get a sound machine or a fan or something to also drown out any noise you or Kev might make. You may have to cut out his nap so he is really tired at night. Good luck!
hey girl...as one who experienced this exact situation...and ended up sitting next to him until he fell asleep (I'm so ashamed to admit that I did that for a year, yes, a year.) - my advice is to take him by the hand, walk him back to bed, and walk out without talking to him at all...you might have to do it over and over and over...but if he's not getting attention from you, he'll eventually learn. It's hard not to tell him "good night" and "I love you" every time....but its at least something to try. The locking the door thing didn't work for us...(since we're in an apartment) he would throw things at his door, stomp his feet..etc...not exactly apartment appropriate. good luck! He'll grow out of this hard stage....
Hopefully I won't have to come back here for advice in a few years!! But I did love the story of him getting his animals ready for bed. Too cute!
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