Ok, so this past month has been one battle after another when it comes to SLEEP! One night Madi decided that she suddenly didn't like her room and didn't want to sleep in her bed any more. She totally caught both Ty and I off-guard because she was sleeping so well in her new room. So we tried talking to her, this is how that went...
Mom: "Madi, how come you don't want to sleep in your bed any more?
Madi: "Just cuz I don't."
Mom: "Is there something bothering you in there?"
Madi: "Um, well, I kind of don't like my sheets."
Mom: " Oh, okay, that is easy to fix."
So we changed her sheets and blankets on her bed, rearranged her room, cleaned it up and had her help me with it. Thinking she might like it better if she had a part in it. The next night she still wouldn't even lay on her bed.
Mom: "Madi, we changed your sheets, cleaned your room, etc. Why won't you sleep in your bed?"
Madi: "Um, well, I kind of don't like my decorations and things. I think I need all new stuff."
At this point I was catching on that she is WAY smarter than I thought. Okay, I thought to myself, so if we are going to play this game I have got to get a little smarter and tougher!
So we made a bed-time chart. If she does all the things on the chart, she gets a sticker for each thing. If she sleeps on her bed, she gets a TREAT! She was so excited about the NEW CHART, until bed time. This didn't work either.
All night long (about every 2 hours) she would climb off her bed, come down stairs, and I would wake to her saying, "Mommy". I would get up and walk her back to her room and we'd start the whole crying battle over again. Some nights she'd wake Kev up, so then I'd have two crying kids.
After about a week of this I was tired and very cranky! Ty told Madi that if she got off her bed that our bed room door would be locked so don't bother coming down. (I know it sounds awful, but we were at our last straw! Don't report us PLEASE!) That night Madi still came down and started knocking at our door. We told her to go back to bed. The knock then became a pound and screaming and kicking. This went on for an hour and a half at 3am. We couldn't believe she as still going at it. (she is SOOOO stubborn). Then I heard Madi say..."Mommy I have to go to the bathroom!" I was about to get up and help her when Ty said, "We just listened to 1 1/2 hrs of screaming, if you get up now you will undo everything." So I stayed in bed. Then Madi said, "I have to go poo poo!" I heard her in the bathroom going and then she got off. That was about as far as I could let it go. I didn't want poo all over the place. So I went and helped her and walked her to her room. She still wouldn't lay on her bed, so I had to stand there and hold her door shut. I felt like such an awful mom! She was crying, and I could here her saying, "This is STUPID! Mom, I said STUPID! I HATE THIS! Mom, I said HATE!" She thought I would open the door if she said naughty words! What a little smarty!
Obviously we still haven't gotten Madi to sleep on her bed. This is some of the places we have found her in the morning. On the floor in our bedroom using my robe as a blanket.
In Kevin's bed?! But where is Kevin? Apparently she begged Ty to sleep in Kevin's bed, so he moved Kevin into our room just so Madi would go to sleep! We are desperate for ideas! We bought her a princess CD player so she could listen to music to help her relax. That only works if we stay with her until she falls asleep.
7 comments:
Melanie, I have to laugh, because we are still battling Trey to sleep in his bed. What a smart girl to think of all those things. Trey can't talk so good yet, so I am sure it may come to that eventually. Hang in there. Em
I wish I had a suggestion. When I was little I don't think I dared knock on my parents door. Matt slept with his mom till he was quite old. I will pray you figure it out so when we get to that point you can tell us what works! ha ha! It was SO good to see you all last week. Do you have e-mail? I have the dates in July we will be gone for our anniversary and the colors I picked out for Evie's room...and I am up in Ogden every week now so we need to find a time to get together again. And do you know your mom's e-mail? I can send her the info too. Love ya! Hope you figure things out!
Sarah
Ohhh Mel, I had to laugh because until my little "Princess" turned 5 she had to sleept in my room, in my bed, cradled in my arms... What made the change and forced her to sleep in her own bed? I had another baby!! Just a thought. :) There have been many nights, I have come to the point that I don't care where they sleep as long as they stay asleep. Good luck with the night time quest!
Lori
Hey Mel, we do need to get together sometime. I am glad that I can keep up with you by blogging too. Love ya, Em
I'm so sorry about the sleeping woes! The more I see and talk to Madi the more I realize how similar our personalities are...even still I have a hard time sleeping at night in my bed! I don't know if it will work for her, but almost every night I HAVE to get in a hot bubble bath and I use aeromatherapy rock salts from Bath and Body Works that help induce relaxation and sleep. After I get out of the bath I put lavender smelling lotion on (Lavender also helps to induce sleepiness :) ) It really seems to work! Maybe it's worth a try! Good Luck...
Its nice to hear other people battle this too. My suggestion... just keep letting her cry it out. Thats the only thing that works for us.
Mel, I just sent a book home with my mom that may help. It's called "The Baby Whispherer for Toddlers." I had an extra copy and thought you might find it helpful. There's a "Baby Whisperer for Babies" that totally helped with Ailia and now Larissa. So, I thought I'd give the toddler book a try. It's awesome! She has great ideas for dealing with all kinds of toddler issues. Ailia has thrown us a few "sleeping curve balls", and this book has helped with all of them. I hope it helps you too!
Post a Comment