Sleep Update: The Big Girl Bed

For us it's definitely following a two steps forward one step back course: The first night in the big girl bed she sailed right through till morning without a problem. The second night she was up every 3 hrs. Every time she goes through a bad sleep period we always back-slide in terms of how we handle it. We always start from the beginning where we rush right in and comfort her for as long as she seems to need it whether it's 10 minutes or 1 hr. We never plan on it being an hour but she often asks us to "Sit in the wocking chair" and if we're doing that time passes in a surreal way until the next thing you know you've been sitting next to her bed for an hour or more.

So after the first night she woke up 3-4 times and we started off with sitting with her. Between sitting there for an hour, her sleeping an hour, then waking up again-- it was an awful night of no sleep for everyone.

The next night we decided to go with The pick her up and put her back in bed without talking Method-- SuperNanny style. She was able to do that somewhere between 15-20 times I'd estimate. Maybe it just felt like that and it was only 10 times-- either way it was constant back and forth between 1am and 3am. Not fun.

The next night we found her standing on her bed pulling things off the tall dresser next to her bed. We thought the room was mostly safe- but sometimes we underestimate how creative this little girl really is. So we removed everything potentially harmful from the dresser and put her back to bed.

The next night we tried bribery-- if she stayed in bed all night she'd get a treat in the morning. That worked! She stayed in bed all night and the next morning she got a doughnut hole from Dunkin' Donuts.

The next night, we tried it again... but she discovered how to take off her pajamas and diaper. And she was stealthy and quiet about it-- as my husband would say, "Like a tiny ninja." We were downstairs listening to the monitor when we heard a soft rustling and asked each other, "What was that?" But then it was quiet again-- so we moved on. A few minutes letter another faint noise... I decided to go upstairs and investigate. I found her in the room next to her bedroom, our office, standing by the futon-- naked, no PJs, no diaper- just a smile. She looked like she was thinking about what she should do next. I called my husband and told him he needed to come upstairs and see for himself. It's like the freedom from the crib rails has made her delirious and she wants to free herself of anything confining including her clothing. So we put her clothes back on and sat next to her bed until she was asleep. We also moved the gate we had in the hallway right up to her door. No more naked wandering.

The next morning she asked for her treat but we told her that running around naked does not get you a treat and since she got up she would not be getting one. She fussed but she understood.

That night we reminded her she needed to stay in bed to get her morning treat. She nodded her big exaggerated toddler nod. Can you see where this is going? We didn't say-- "and keep your clothes on." So sometime after midnight we heard quiet rustling. My husband investigated- he found her naked on her bed. We believe she did try to pee on the diaper because there was a wet spot near it but turns out her aim is not great when it comes to trying to pee on the diaper she'd taken off in the dark. So, yes, she stayed in her bed but she got naked and wet the bed.

So the last few nights we've asked her to promise not to get out of the bed AND to keep her pajamas AND diaper on. So far she's doing ok... it's been ok for 2 nights.

The modified cry-it-out did work for us more reliably than anything else back when she was 6 months old-- when she was in a crib.

I don't know how you get a toddler to cry-it-out and go back to sleep in her big girl bed because Millie is finding all kinds of new and creative ways to run amok in her room. She's not crying-- she's getting naked and swinging from the drapes. Is there a chapter on that in the sleep books?

Anyway, 5 nights and counting. We are still rewarding her for staying in bed- a little book or a tiny toy. OK, I confess- we started off with a doughnut hole-- but we're better now. Hopefully some of this delirious energy is settling down.

Parenthood

Mommy: This day isn't working out quite like I planned.

Daddy: Isn't that basically the definition of parenthood?

For better and worse, these little ones come bearing all kinds of surprises. In all honesty, the majority of these surprises are gifts of pure love and sheer delight. These surprises are, however, sprinkled with unexpected and challenging, um... opportunities for personal growth and character building for everyone involved.

It's been a rough sleep weekend. Who knows why- new bed? low grade viral thing? teething? constipation? Take your pick. After these rough spells we seem to be coming out the other side still intact as a team. That's the important thing. It's character building for the family. I'll try to remember to ask myself that at 3am-- what kind of family do you want to be on the other side of this rough patch?

Big Girl Bed

So the delivery men came around 11am and in a flurry of activity and whirring drills the crib was disassembled and a twin bed frame was erected.

The mattress arrived 2-3 weeks ago. It was on the floor in a nearby room. We had already bought sheets for it and were using the mattress to read bedtime stories

There wasn't enough room for both crib and bed in the room so when we got the word from the furniture delivery folks that they were on their way, we scrambled to take down the crib. And by "we", I mean my husband. I tried to entertain Millie and prayed she wouldn't be too disturbed by watching her crib be taken apart. She seemed intrigued.

We let her take a peek as they started to put the bed together then we went to the kitchen for lunch. After lunch was completed, we went upstairs for the big reveal.

She walked into her room and didn't say anything at first. We held our breath.

Then she turned to me and said, "Mommy will you get me in?" She can climb in but I think at first it seemed enormous to her compared to the crib she woke up in this morning. I helped her up into the bed a little and she climbed the rest of the way up and said, "I'm in!" like some kind of explorer scaling a wall into a castle. She, of course, immediately started bouncing up and down. After a few minutes we said, "Ok Millie, ready to take a nap in your big girl bed?" She said, "Yesh!" And toddled over to the pillow end where she said, "I made it," and lay down. Then she spread out her arms and said, "It's so comforbul and beautiful."

We were relieved.

I sat in the rocking chair next to the bed for a little while to make sure she was settled and drifting off to sleep. She was so excited, she sang at least 5 songs (Mary had a little lamb, The Wonderpets theme, Twinkle Twinkle, Baa Baa black sheep and then "I'm not perfect" by Laurie Berkner) before I said, "Ok Millie, time to close your eyes and go to sleep." I sat reading my book until her breathing become more regular- finally she was asleep.

Looking in on her sleeping, she looks so little in that big bed.

Here's hoping for sweet dreams...

The Comedienne

Millie has always had a rough time with saying goodbye at bedtime. She cries for us to come get her after we leave the room when we put her to sleep. She's gotten to the age when shes trying to strategize on any way that might get us back in the room besides crying.

Recently there have been lots of diaper training attempts. So on the monitor we may here "Millie poop". As we crack the door open though, she actually chuckles and says, "Millie funny." Is my 20 month old mocking me already-- I thought I had to wait until at least she was thirteen. I'd be worried if it weren't so funny.

She's clever but she hasn't figured out the timing of the punchline yet. If she says, "Millie funny" before we've actually checked her diaper- we now know we can say "Night night, Millie," and turn around at the door. She's right though, Millie funny.

Songs- Part 2

Singing- is there anything sweeter than being serenaded by your daughter while you put her to sleep?

Millie has decided she loves the "Hush Little Baby" song... even though I don't sing it. It's one of the songs on the lullaby CD that plays in the background as part of the wind-down to sleep.

She started off dancing as soon as she could walk. Now that's she's talking up a storm, this means she also sings spontaneously day and night. At least a few times every day she sings a bit of some sweet melody to herself. No audience necessary. In fact, you can now ask her to make up a song about something and she'll just start singing about it.

Mommy: Millie- sing the laundry song.

Millie: Laundry, laundry, pushing buttons, pum de pum pum.

Dad-isms

Millie was sick this past week. It was a particularly bad cold s0 we took her in to see the pediatrician just to be sure everything was ok.

Our pediatrician is wonderful. She pretends that Millie has all sorts of fun things in her ears. Dr. Lee will say, "Is there a dinosaur in your ear?" Millie, will gladly let Dr. Lee take a look to see what kind of amazing things are in her ears. This time the following exchange occurred:

Dr. Lee: Is there a Monkey in your ear?
Millie nods.
Dr. Lee: Let me take a look. (Looking into her ear) Oh my goodness! There's a monkey in there! What's that monkey's name?
Millie: (smiling) Jack.
Dr. Lee: Let me take another look. (Looking into her ear) Oh my goodness- there are two monkeys in there! What's that other monkey's name?
Millie: Rambo.
Dr. Lee: Rainbow?
Millie: No. Rambo.

Ahh, the clever things she picks up from playing with Daddy. You see, Millie's grandmother bought Millie these lovely ribbons for her hair. One day, Millie wanted to play with the ribbons while playing with Daddy. Daddy decided the way a man should play with a bright pink ribbon was to sing the theme from Rambo while tying it around his forehead. Now Millie thinks that's clearly what you do with a ribbon.

After all, one of the first things she ever learned to say was, "Luke, I am your father," while speaking into an empty cup-- with heavy breathing noises and everything. More recently, it's been the word "Dude". Daddy's a fan of The Big Lebowski. So, if you are hanging around my home at bedtime, you may here my daughter say, "Dude! I need to go to bed, Dude."