Bedtime

Ever since Henry and I both had the Swine Flu back in November, we haven't been able to get him out of our bed!! He wants to go to sleep in our bed, stay asleep in our bed, or come into our bed to go back to bed if he wakes up in his own bed.

We are exhausted. When Henry sleeps in our bed, he sleeps sideways. Feet in your face. Or in your back. He is loud. He talks, moans, snores, yells out. In the last 4 months, I have read many books on sleeping and toddlers. I have tried dozens of different ways to get this kid sleeping in his own bed again.

Every mom I know recommended the stand-by "cry it out method". Sam and I are softies and could never bring ourselves to do it. Four months, countless battles and even more sleepless nights, we finally decided to grit our teeth and give it a try. We were desperate.

Here is what happened:

Night 1: Told him about what was going to happen. Read stories, rocked him and gave him his milk, then tucked him in, gave him a kiss, left his room and shut the door. Silence. About a minute later he came to the door and called. Then cried. He tried everything. Knocking on the door. Crying, screaming, yelling. He said, "Jack, help me Jack". (Jack is the dog.) He also tried to get me to cave by crying through the door, "Mommy, mommy where are you?" Then, "Mommy, I'm sorry." It was torture. Luckily, the crying lasted a mere 12 minutes!! An hour later when I went in to check on him, he was sleeping in his bed with his little bum sticking up in the air. Success! 3:30 a.m. he came to our room. I hugged him and told him it was still nighttime and he had to go back to sleep in his own bed. He cried for 5 minutes and went back to sleep until 7 a.m. Hooray!!

Night 2: Talked him through the process again. When I left his room, he cried for abut 5 minutes, then fell asleep. Woke up at 3:30 a.m. again, and I walked him back to his bed. He only cried for about a minute this time.

Night 3: We even had company. Sam's brother and his wife were over for dinner. He said goodnight to everyone. When it was time for me to put him in bed and leave the room, he was very sad and clingy. He cried for about a minute, but never even got out of his bed! He went right to sleep. The best part? He didn't wake up until 6:45 a.m.!!

Night 4: (tonight) When I put him to bed, he just hugged me back and went to his bed willingly. I left the room and never heard a peep!! No crying, no getting out of bed, nothing. It's a miracle!

Success!!!

To all the moms reading this who told me to try this 4 months ago - yes, you were right. You absolutely earned the right to say, "I told you so."