December 8, 2005
You know, I really thought that by this point in our lives -- i.e., two years out from having our most recent baby -- we'd be sleeping in our own beds, undisturbed, all through the night.
Ah ha ha. It is to laugh. Ever since we moved into the new house, Zeke has been announcing on a nightly basis that he is incapable of getting to sleep without someone to "snuggle." Every night, I tell him that he can perfectly well get to sleep on his own as he has been doing for the past two years, and he tells me "that is not going to work, Mommy" and I tell him that it is, too, and then I tell him to have a good night and I turn off the light. Then he tells me there is not enough light in his room, and I point out that his ducky nightlight is still on, plus there is light from the hallway, and he tells me "that is not going to work either, Mommy" and I tell him to knock it off and have a good sleep, and I go back downstairs.
I think it's important to have routines with small children, you know?
Then about half the time, Zeke wanders into our room around 3 AM and has to be re-settled in his bed. Sometimes Keith passes out in Zeke's bed after what was promised as "just a short snuggle" and never actually makes it back to our bed. Generally Stazi also wakes up around the same time and demands to sleep in our bed, too. Lately she's been a pretty active sleeper (read: "starts furiously kicking her parents in the stomach, kidneys, back, and sometimes head") so more often that not she has to be redeposited in her own bed too.
I keep thinking that if we just keep putting them both back in their own beds, eventually it will stick. I am hanging onto this theory desperately. Please don't disabuse me of my little notions.
Posted at December 8, 2005 8:31 AM
Posted by: Laura at December 9, 2005 10:27 AM
Your theory is sound. Stick to it. ( Though it will more than likely take more effort than you think it should.) After I got punched in the face in my sleep from our older daughter, she was banned from our bed. She was about 7 at the time, so I don't feel guilty at all. Of course, any weekend morning snuggling is perfectly welcome.
Happy sleeping!
Posted by: bibiana Powell at December 12, 2005 4:46 PM
We have the same exact problem with our 2- and 3-year olds. Our 3-year-old daughter wakes up at least once a night and wants to get in bed with us. What I have found works is the promise of a treat in the morning if she stays in her bed all night. She loves marshmallows and this seems to work most of the time. If I ever let her in, though, she goes back to the same old routine. My 2-year-old son has started waking up lately after having slept exceptionally well in his own bed for over a year. I think he's waking up because he seems to be getting a cold and he gets cold at night now that it's winter. (I live not far from you, in Cincinnati, so it's cold).