Sending out an SOS
OMG. I have a threenager. “They” weren’t kidding when they said two is a cake walk compared to two. And we are only two months into it. I am waving the white flag. Oy.
Photo from Lindsay McDaniel Photography
Anyway, this leads me to this post. At three I told Emmy she could have a big girl bed. You can guess how well that is going.
Anyway, once she moved to a big girl bed, sleep went from 11-12 hours a night to not going to sleep, awakenings in the night and the most frustrating – rising between 5 and 5:30.
We actually thought we were working through this because the evening struggle and night awakenings stopped and she at least slept until 6, but we seem to have had a regression.
I am all ears because I spend about 80% of my morning frustrated with her because I have been up since 5. And the early mornings mean she’s super cranky by 11. Ugh.
I have tried putting her back in bed without talking to her, putting her back in her crib, giving up her nap (which is only an hour to an hour and a half anyway), earlier bed times, later bed times, rewards, punishments, Santa calling her, but nothing works. Silver lining – maybe her tenaciousness will serve her well in the future.
Other than her growing out of this (or waiting for the time to change), any ideas?
Our transition to a big bed with Trent was pretty awful, but he started climbing out at 2, so we had no choice. It got to where we locked him in his room - then he finally learned he had to stay in there. I think the thing to focus on is consistency. So if you are going to walk her back to bed without talking to her, you have to do that EVERY time. You slip once, and she's got you. And it will take time and it'll be frustrating. But get a plan and stick with it. She won't keep this up forever, I promise!
ReplyDeleteWe use the My Tot Clock and it is a lifesaver. It's blue when they have to stay in bed and turns yellow when they are allowed up.
ReplyDeleteSorry . . . no good suggestions, but she surely is cute!!
ReplyDeleteLove, Aunt Angie
My kids were sleepers(just like me), so I've never had this problem. However, this has been a problem for my sister. They turned the door knob around so they could lock it from the outside. They lock their son in. He has learned to stay in bed longer. Maybe the combination of the tot-clock and locking the door?
ReplyDelete