aidan has been refusing to stay in bed when we put him down at night (for about a month now). it's not because he's not tired ... he's yawning, eyes are red -- all the correct 'time to go to bed' signs. he happily goes, he just won't stay. he makes you think he's going to go by getting all cozy, giving kisses, saying good night and telling us he's going to stay in bed. we've been suckered in every time. let me also explain that this is not a 1/2 hour ordeal ... it's a 2-4 hour process. bed at 7, not asleep until 11 at least three nights out of the past seven. if we're lucky he's asleep by 9.
we've tried everything ... we've done the supernanny (just lay him back down without talking to him (worked very well the first few times)), we've done the amy (be very strict & mean), we've done the john (try to reason with the 2 1/2 year old), we've done the amy II (take one cozy thing out of his bed each time we have to go in -- the pacifier and blankie coming out last (the latter being our most effective punishment to date)), we've also done the john II (lay down with him until he falls asleep) ... well, tonight i finally had enough and we did the amy III which consisted of pulling every single toy, book & stuffed animal out of his room (all of which is now sitting outside his door).
getting to the funny part. after we do this (which was an amusing process to him--not what we were going for) i come up to check on him again. i can see his light is on and i can hear him moving around. i'm figuring i'm about to walk into his wardrobe all over the floor from him emptying out the dresser. instead i find him dancing, spinning, happy as can be ... he even dropped and rolled all around for me. by taking his fun things away we apparently gave him a nice big open fun floor to play with. you've got to be kidding me.
on another note, i cleaned out the filter on our washing machine today and didn't screw the cover back on properly. when i started a load of clothes in the midst of all the aidan-still-not-sleeping-b.s. the water just poured out all over the laundry room floor. a-l-o-t of water onto a-l-o-t of things on the floor. that was an hour+ clean up (including pulling said washer & dryer out) and now here we are.
aidan was talking to himself when i started this and now seems to be quiet. 2 hours. not bad these days.
3 comments:
This sounds a little bit familiar! I have 2 suggestions. My first is to push bedtime back by an hour. If you are like me, this isn't really feasible. Bedtime comes at 8, to save our sanity, not so much because the kids are tired. Our solution to Ava, (since bedtime is for our sanity) is as long as she stays in her room, we just ignore her. She eventually goes to sleep, (usually within a reasonable amount of time). If she comes out of her room, then she gets a dreaded timeout, so she usually stays in her room. And our sanity is still preserved (most of the time).
i've gone in there a few times and have been unable to find him right away ... hanging out under the bed, behind the bed, in the closet ... wherever. if i let him play for a little while, do you think he'll fall asleep in the bed or will i have to do hide & seek when i go in at 11 to change his diaper? (yes, he still pees so much at night that he needs a mid-sleep change) i'll give your idea a try if amy III 1/2 fails (stay tuned) ...
I am anxious to see Amy X...looking forward to that post.
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