So Erik and I have been having some tough times lately (all of a sudden) with Olivia at night going to bed. She plays the typical toddler routine, "I have to go potty", "I need a drink of water", "there's a spider in my room". We work through those and just keep putting her back in bed, but she just keeps getting out. She sits in the hallway and just cries and we go up a million times trying to get her back in and settled down. The other night we started her normal bedtime routine at 7:30 like usual and it took until 10:00 when she actually passed out on the couch and we carried her to bed. The next night she actually finally fell asleep in her own bed. Last night was a real battle and she just wanted to be in our bed, even though we weren't in there. I ended up letting her fall asleep in our bed because that is what she wanted and carried her to bed when we went up to bed. Then at 3am she came in and said she needed to sleep in our bed because she was scared.
Some may say, what's the harm, let her sleep with you. I don't really mind, but the biggest thing is that the new baby is going to be in our room for a while and I don't need her waking him when she comes in or I don't want her waking up when he wakes in the middle of the night to eat.
I have always been head strong about not letting my kids sleep with me. I am a firm believer of this. I know some don't agree with me, but I need my sleep and my own time away from them.
I feel like she now thinks this is a game and it's ok for her to keep doing this night after night. It's getting extremely aggravating because we are not used to this. She was always great at going to bed at night. We would just lay her in her crib awake, starting at like 6 months old and she would go to sleep. Ever since she moved into her big girl bed this summer, this new routine/game has started. She now has the freedom of getting in and out of the bed herself.
I feel like if I keep giving in to her and letting her in my bed, then she has won this battle. She needs to learn how to fall asleep in her own bed. I am ok with coming in to my room in the middle of the night because she had a bad dream and she needs comforting. I would never turn her away, but it's the whole bedtime thing that is really taking a toll on my nerves.
Any suggestions are welcome!!!
The pics I added of Olivia were just so sweet from when she passed out in the car ride from our house to my cousin Andrew and Heidi's house when we were going there this passed weekend for dinner. We could not wake her up and she just crashed on their couch. Everyone was trying to wake her up, but she wouldn't budge. I thought the pics were appropriate for this entry!! She also looks like she is 7 in these pics because of the angle I took them from!
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