We've been letting the boys stay up until they crash since they were born. They also have slept in our bed since they were born. Last Saturday I decided once and for all that they were going to have a nighttime routine and go to bed in their own beds at a certain time.
With the help of my mom, I moved everything out of the office and moved the crib from our room and the toddler bed from the playroom into the now "quiet room." The room only has the beds, some books and stuffed animals in it. I also only let them in there when it's time to sleep.
The first night I fell asleep in their room on the floor waiting for Brandon to fall asleep. He would hardly stay in his bed. He kept getting in my face trying to get my attention. Xander cried so much that I just wanted to pick him up and take him to bed with me, but I stayed strong. I prayed for strength and endurance to make it through the night. Good thing because I had to get out of bed seven times when Xander woke up crying. One time he woke Brandon up and they were both crying. It took an hour to get them back to sleep! I was so exhausted the next day, I knew I had to take a nap or I wouldn't make it through night #2!
The second night, Xander went to sleep fairly easy with little crying but with Brandon it was more of the same. I ended up squishing into his little Noah's Ark bed with him hoping that would make him feel more comfortable in his bed. After he fell asleep, I went to my own bed just to be awakened by him screaming for me in the middle of the night. Of course, he cried "Mommy, you want to cuddle with me in my boat bed?" How could I say no? So I climbed in and waited for him to fall back asleep. Xander slept the entire night without waking up at all!
Last night, the third night, we gave the boys a bath, put their jammies on and brushed their teeth as was our new routine. When I announced that it was storytime, to my surprise, Brandon said, "I don't want storytime!" He loves storytime!! I now knew that he was learning the routine and knew that bedtime was after story time. As I read the last story, David went to get them some milk (bad habit, I know!!). When he came back, we kissed them, put them to bed and said our prayers. Brandon drank his milk with his Daddy laying next to him and when he was finished he handed David the empty cup, rolled over and went to sleep! I couldn't believe it. Xander took a little longer, but I didn't have to stay in there until he was asleep. I taught him to pull the chord on his little Dinosaur to make it play the lullabye so he lulls himself to sleep. I thought he was asleep and I left the room but he called me back and asked for more milk. I gave him the milk and said goodnight and left the room. I didn't hear anything else from him until morning!!
Tonight after storytime, which Brandon again protested, we gave them both milk, kissed them said our prayers and good night and left the room. I haven't heard a peep!!! I wanted to recount this journey for a very important reason. I feel like one of those parents on "Supernanny" who says "that won't work with my kids" and then the Supernanny totally proves them wrong and they are amazed. If anyone would have told me that my boys would be going to bed in their own beds by themselves even a WEEK ago, I would have laughed and said "not my boys!" ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!! God will provide the strength that you need to accomplish your goals! PRAY AND BELIEVE!
I'm so thankful to all of the ladies, especially my MOM who convinced me to give the boys some structure and give myself a break!!
No comments:
Post a Comment