Our baby is turning 2 in four days!!!!
How on earth did that happen? How did time go so fast? I'm too young to have a two year old!
....not too mention number 2 on the way....
So what is this trouble maker up to lately?
Trouble.
With sleeping, that is.
He has perfected the art of departing his crib in 0.003 seconds flat after the door is closed and the last "goodnight, love you!" is whispered.
From there he runs to the door, screams, cries, bangs, jiggles the knob, sometimes removes the child lock (aren't those supposed to be "child proof?") and then falls asleep on the floor.
This happens every single time we put him to bed. Regardless of nap time or night time. Night light or pitch black. Thirty minutes of books and songs or five minutes. Bath or no bath. Big dinner or little dinner.
We even removed the front piece of his crib so he could climb in bed easier and feel like a big boy.
Now he climbs out in 0.001 second flat.
Sometimes we let him sleep on the floor until we go to bed, and then we quietly move him. More often than not, he wakes up right as we're shutting the door. Cue crying, running, and sleeping on the floor again. Sometimes Scott sleeps on the floor to ensure no crib escaping. It works until he gets up to leave.
We're both a little frustrated. A little annoyed. A little tired.
I've come to the conclusion that: is it really that bad to let my toddler sleep on the floor???
I'm sure he'll grow out of it one day....
*side note: this all started happening after we came home from an almost 3 week long trip to Utah.
Aside from these super fun escaping escapades, he really is developing quite the personality.
Tantrums in Costco.
Waking up at 5:50 am.
Squawking "water! water! water!" or "binkeeee! binkeeee! binkeeee!" in desperation whenever he needs it. You'd think he was having a panic attack. We're working on the "please, mama." But he still needs "what do you say?" first.
...maybe it's just been one of those days.
Because he really is very sweet, and hilarious. He is incredibly obedient when we ask for his help and he cleans up his toys like a boss. He loves "helping" me cook, wash dishes, unload the dishwasher, do the laundry, vacuum, etc. His favorite show is Curious George, which I don't mind because I think it's super cute. For now. He loves giving kisses. He also loves people! When we go to a party or get together, he'll usually find one person and become obsessed with them. It's pretty funny. He has no fear of strangers. Or dogs.
He is a serious talker and starting to put sentences together. Of course, Scott and I have to interpret for others sometimes, but he's pretty easy to understand. He also totally understands the concept of "do this, and you get a reward!" For example, apparently in Nursery they give out marshmallows for standing against the wall. This morning I got the marshmallows out for hot chocolate, and immediately he went to the wall and said "Stand wall. Marshmallow." Cute, funny, and sad at the same time.
Okay I'll stop boring you with how awesome our son is.
But if you have any suggestions for the whole sleeping issue, let me know! Otherwise, the floor it is.
grace was my only one to ever climb out of the crib. a crib tent nipped that right in the bud! we got it at babies r us. they're kind of pricey, though, so i think there really is nothing wrong with letting him just sleep on the floor. (if you want to try a tent, let me know and i'll look through our stuff to see if we still have the one we used with grace.)
ReplyDeleteWe took off the side of Emma's crib about 2 months before she turned two and had some hard nights and found her on the floor. Personally I think it is fine if she stays in her room. We would just usually check on her before we go to bed and she has been asleep for a while and then put her in her bed. My nephew still chooses to sleep on the floor even without throwing a fit and he is almost 3.
ReplyDeleteI figure why make it a fight every night and exhaust yourself when it doesn't really matter in the long run!
I honestly think letting him sleep on the floor is no big deal. It's great if you can keep him contained in one room! Maybe you could try putting his crib mattress on the floor for a few nights and see if he likes sleeping on it? Maybe he is ready for a bigger bed? We never did toddler beds with our kids, just went straight to twin beds. Mostly because the toddler beds were part of the crib, and we have never NOT needed the crib to this point.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, B is way cute & social. I can't believe he is almost 2, though!
I had a hard time w/number three and found myself in the rut of sleeping w/her in order to get any sleep. So, to get over that, I tried a "SuperNanny" idea. It took 3 long nights (the first night was by far the most difficult), but it worked. Simply put, this is what I did: After the bedtime routine, put the child to bed with lots of loves and kisses, say good night, and sit on the floor right beside them. (Maybe you have heard of this?) When the child starts to get up, simply say, "good night" and with no eye contact, put them right back in bed. From there on out, just put them back in their bed with no eye contact OR words and sit right down beside bed with head down. Second night, do the exact same thing except sit further away from the bed. By the third night, I was able to sit by the door, and slipped out easily in fairly good time, and I'm pretty sure I never had to deal with it again. Best of luck, Karissa!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm having some night-time troubles with my little one, too. But I think it's due to teething.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I would let mine sleep on the floor, but I'd consider giving Christal's method a shot!
Bragging rights to the babe with a babe of a husband and a little babe plus one on the way! Lots of babe's in your house, babe!
I had some stubborn go to sleep kids too. I greatly recommend Cristal's method. Thank goodness for SuperNanny. I think she saved my life with this one. (Or the life of one of my children. . .) I did have to deal with the whole thing a bit longer than Christal. Either Christal was more determined and consistent than I was, or my child was more stubborn than hers. (Or maybe we didn't start soon enough.) But it DID work. I think it took a week or so at our house.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing that helped was definite "this is it - bedtime routine is over" cues. After prayers and forehead kisses, you are in bed for good. After that, all you get is the SuperNanny method.
Good Luck!