My son slept with me, and it took a bit for him to make the adjustment, but he's in his own bed now. I would start winding down right after dinner, and make her bedtime routine a half an hour longer. I usually start with a bath at 7:00 and go from there. I also helped DS through the transition by laying down with him until he fell asleep, and having a nightlight on and a stuffed animal. I also wouldn't expect her to make it through the whole night just yet. Hang in there. It will happen eventually.
I agree.
Quoting mommynac:My son slept with me, and it took a bit for him to make the adjustment, but he's in his own bed now. I would start winding down right after dinner, and make her bedtime routine a half an hour longer. I usually start with a bath at 7:00 and go from there. I also helped DS through the transition by laying down with him until he fell asleep, and having a nightlight on and a stuffed animal. I also wouldn't expect her to make it through the whole night just yet. Hang in there. It will happen eventually.
Is there a way you could make something physical that she could 'help' with at night? My dd's therapist (speech) gave me the stuff to make little pictures of what was going to happen next, and I glued them to popsicle sticks and put them in a little paper pouch. (good lord, I'm not explaining this very well...lol)
Example: We had one popsicle stick for bath, one with PJ's on it, one with a Toothbrush, one that had a book on it, and one with hugs and kisses. For each 'thing' we finished, she would take it out of the numbered pouch (each stick had a number) and put it in the bigger pouch (that held all of them). When the hugs and kisses were done, the lights went out and I would lay with her for a bit (trying to squeeze into a toddler bed with a toddler is quite interesting).
It kind of helped her to know what was coming and she was in charge of moving on to the next 'thing'.
I think you should just keep doing what you are doing. He has to know that you are the parent and when you say its time to go to bed, its time to go to bed. Once he realizes that no amount of crying is going to get what he wants, he'll just say to heck with it and stop trying.
Quoting mommynac:My son slept with me, and it took a bit for him to make the adjustment, but he's in his own bed now. I would start winding down right after dinner, and make her bedtime routine a half an hour longer. I usually start with a bath at 7:00 and go from there. I also helped DS through the transition by laying down with him until he fell asleep, and having a nightlight on and a stuffed animal. I also wouldn't expect her to make it through the whole night just yet. Hang in there. It will happen eventually.
I usually give my dd something to look forward to in the morning.
For example: you need to go to sleep now because tomorrow, you will see daddy or we can go to the pool.
Also I tell her if she isn't quiet then I will shut her door, she doesn't like that so she is quiet.
here is what we do:
after dinner i let her play with her toys until bathtime at 6:30.
after i wash her up i let her play in the bath until 7
after the bath she plays with quiet toys until 7:15
7:15 we pick up toys
when toys are picked up (usually its around7:25), she sits in her chair and watches the wonderpets
after the wonderpets, its hugs and kisses from grandpa, hugs for the dog, then hugs and kisses from mommy and then off to bed with country music on real low
I think sleeping until 3 or 4 is a pretty good start. She's been used to sleeping with you, so I would expect it to be a gradual transition. Eventually she'll go for longer periods of time. Personally, I would not let her cry it out. I feel like that would just make her even more fearful. JMO.
Quoting sarahmiamaria:
Yeah when she wakes up at 3 or 4 I take her into my bed with me. Maybe that's part of the problem though? I hate listening to her cry for that long! I just don't know what else to do :(
Quoting mommynac:
My son slept with me, and it took a bit for him to make the adjustment, but he's in his own bed now. I would start winding down right after dinner, and make her bedtime routine a half an hour longer. I usually start with a bath at 7:00 and go from there. I also helped DS through the transition by laying down with him until he fell asleep, and having a nightlight on and a stuffed animal. I also wouldn't expect her to make it through the whole night just yet. Hang in there. It will happen eventually.
Quoting sarahmiamaria:
Yeah when she wakes up at 3 or 4 I take her into my bed with me. Maybe that's part of the problem though? I hate listening to her cry for that long! I just don't know what else to do :(
Quoting mommynac:My son slept with me, and it took a bit for him to make the adjustment, but he's in his own bed now. I would start winding down right after dinner, and make her bedtime routine a half an hour longer. I usually start with a bath at 7:00 and go from there. I also helped DS through the transition by laying down with him until he fell asleep, and having a nightlight on and a stuffed animal. I also wouldn't expect her to make it through the whole night just yet. Hang in there. It will happen eventually.
Maybe she's waking up at 3 in the a.m. because she's in bed at 8:00. Why so early to bed? And do you mean that she takes a snack to bed? 'Cause that's a big no-no - brings rotten teeth and bugs to the bedroom. Maybe a little more physical exercise to tire her out?
Good news, im so excited!
- sarahmiamaria
on Aug. 20, 2012 at 10:27 AM