Joel and I have spent the last week trying to figure out what has happened to our son. It's like he was snatched at night and replaced with a body double who is exactly like him except for one glaringly obvious difference: he sleeps. For those of you who don't know what bed time with Jonah has been like for the past, oh, 2 1/2 years, let me offer some details.
1. Jonah does not like to sleep.
2. Jonah cannot fall asleep by himself.
3. Jonah never slept in his crib. Well, he may have slept in it for 5 minutes. Total.
4. Jonah got a big boy bed at 14 months because he wouldn't sleep in his crib.
5. Bedtime is a battle every night. Every. Night.
6. Joel has to sit or lie down next to Jonah to get him to fall asleep.
7. It takes 30-60 minutes of Joel sitting or lying next to Jonah for Jonah to fall asleep. Joel usually falls asleep too.
8. Jonah does not nap.
9. If Jonah does nap, even for 30 minutes, he will be up until 9:30 or 10 at night.
10. I don't let Jonah nap.
Last week Joel decided he had had enough with this routine and that it was time for Jonah to learn to fall asleep by himself. I wasn't so sure, but couldn't say much since Joel is the one who has to deal with this every night. I don't have the patience. So, we got out the pack and play and told Jonah he could choose to sleep in it or in his bed. He chose the "baby crib" as he now refers to it. The first night he climbed out 10 times before falling asleep. That was it. That was the battle we had been dreading. It took one night. Now he sleeps. By himself. In his "baby crib." And he loves it. He is also taking naps now and still getting to bed by 8:00. The other night he asked - ASKED - to go to bed at 7:15. We now put in him in, cover him up, read a book, sing a song and say "good night." And he falls asleep all by himself.
What happened to my son?
Oh - ask him where he sleeps. He loves to tell everyone about his "brand new baby crib."
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2 comments:
Jonah you are too funny for words! Don't you wish you had gotten the pac-n-play out 2 years ago?! Reminds me of when we took your bedtime bottle away. We dreaded doing it but you cried the first night and never needed it again, we think you were 2! Like mother, like son?!
Hi there you four!
Diane of Allofus has enjoyed reading your blog and keeping up with you and your family for awhile now. It's been great.
I finally felt the need to send a comment with this one. I have a 14month old grandson that has similar sleeping habits as Jonah. Bruce and I bought them a beautiful crib before he was born and he has barely used it! He now has developed the habit of needing to be layed down with to go to sleep. I will have to tell my son that there very well could be a light at the end of the tunnel.
So, I don't have a blog, but you can look up Diane Cooke on facebook.com to see what I'm up to and view pictures. I try to go on that once a day or so. I also have a mySpace page where I have a couple of slide shows of family and the theater where I work.
Take care and keep writing. Your family sounds adorable and tons of fun!
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