Sleep Patrol...

So it seems like things come and go, for a while they're good, then suddenly they're not. For us right now, that's Monkey and sleeping. Last night she gave us a real rough time going to sleep. It's like she's forgotten how to fall asleep on her own. For the last few days she'll fall asleep while I'm singing to her, and she's usually exhausted so it happens quickly. Otherwise she has to get really mad and throw big fits, then she'll fall asleep while I'm singing to her. Either way, it's kinda crazy since she used to fall asleep just fine on her own. So after thinking about it and talking to the hubs about it, I decided on an approach. It might take a while to work really well, but me and the hubs feel good about it and I'm hoping if we stick to it, it'll get her back on track falling asleep on her own.

Here's what I did. We do a pretty regular bedtime routine. Brush teeth, read books, sing songs. When we sing songs, they're generally tucked in with the lights out. Then after we shut the door (or as we're shutting it, or even before that) she starts crying. When we shut the door, she eventually works her way back to the door and opens it. I just stand there right outside the door, and once she tries opening it, I open the door and tell her to go back to bed. So she goes, I put her blanket over her and tell her nicely to go to sleep, I love you, that sort of thing. Then we do it all over again. Each time I opened the door she'd get a bit more hysterical. But the last time I did it, she finally went back to bed and her eyes were so heavy. I just talked to her gently about being a big girl and falling asleep on her own. She's about to be a big sister, and I don't want to have to use extreme measures to get 2 kids to bed. While I talked and shooshed her, she fell asleep. So I left. After around 5 minutes or so she stirred and realized I was gone. So the hubs is currently doing the same thing. Open the door (when she's out of bed and about to open it) tell her to go to bed. Tuck her in, say good night, then shut the door. We're hoping that with consistent use of this by both of us for the next few days, or maybe a week, (hopefully not more) she'll find her way back to falling asleep on her own without all the hoopla. Oh, the hoopla. We could definitely do without.

So wish us luck. I'm sure I'll keep you posted. :)