Photo by Kairi.08
For me, sleeping is one of life's greatest pleasures. Almost better than chocolate. So I just can't understand why anyone would refuse to do it -- even a toddler. My kids are good sleepers, now. But it wasn't that long ago that I was in the same boat as Lylah M. Alphonse, a workitmom.com blogger, who is still trying a "cry it out" approach for her 2-year-old who refuses to go to bed quietly.
"I grit my teeth and count to 10, again and again, willing myself to wait five more minutes before capitulating. I know he is safe and warm and full and dry. I know that he is tired, and needs to sleep. I force myself to work, wondering where that line is between cuddling and coddling, between soothing and spoiling, and whether I’m anywhere near it."
My daughter's bedtime routine used to go at least an hour every night. First she'd need a fifth drink of water, followed by a trip to the potty. Then she'd run through a litany of toys that I was required to search, retrieve, and place in her bed before she would even try to close her eyes. My little manipulator! I'm down to about 15 minutes from tuck in to doze off -- and I'll take it!
What about your little sleepyheads?
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Comments 20
if he's really tired like 15 mins but if he not there's at least an hour of singing
I never left my son to go to be by himself and he goes to bed(in our bed or his) very quickly....bath, story and I either lay with him or hold his hand until he is alseep.
Never did the the cry it out thing, just wasn't for our family. All three kids agess 6, 4 and 2 are in bed at 8:30 after a bath, pjs, brush teeth, scriptures, prayer and song. They are all to sleep within minutes no problems. Our bedtime routine takes about 20 minutes from beginning (bath) to end (song) and everybody slips into their dreams happy.
I have a lots of boys...20, 11, 9 and 3 year old and I am a CIO mom and proud of it, I think that it's very important to teach children to self soothe....you can't always solve all of their problems for them and the sooner they learn that, the better. Now...that being said, I also think that is a parents job to teach them how to go to bed...quietly, peacefully, without a fuss, etc. If my guy has eaten well and played hard during the day, he drops off in no time at all. When we linger in the house, lay in front of the TV and snack all day, well, bedtime never ends...so I find that it is my job to get him outside everyday, provide nutricious meals and also to set appropriate boundaries...like no looking for animals, toys, etc....it's time to sleep. Toddlers ARE master manipulators, and if they are indulged in that, they get more demanding as time goes on, not less. But it sounds like you have already won that battle...way to go Mama! Interesting question though, I think my 9 year old could stay awake for about 3 days just on will power alone...stubborn little guy...LOL! Enjoy the parenting journey!
Blessings,
Kristy
I went with 15 min because for my twins, one tends to go right to sleep after their story is read and the lights are out where the other will sometimes talk/sing for a few minutes before drifting off.
The boys just turned two and are still in cribs. I'm hoping to hold off on transitioning them to big boy beds until the spring but we'll see about that.
my son would take an hour to fall asleep.. but he didn't cry much. usually, he would play in his crib. LOL he used to sing to himself, and bounce, and talk to himself, and play with his blankets and his little snuggly toys. we had a hard time making him LAY DOWN. lol
we had a video monitor, which we kept in his room, and we would sit down here and watch it and laugh at him, because he would start to climb out of the bed, and we would wait until he had ever so quietly swung one leg over, and one of us would yell, "GET BACK IN THAT BED!! LAY DOWN AND GO TO SLEEP!" and he would FREEZE, and stare all around the room, like, "how did they know?!" it was sooooo funny. and he would look back and forth, craning his neck to find us because he KNEW we were spying on him. LOL
He still reads under the covers sometimes. ha he's 12 now, 7th grade, and a big, big guy. but the video monitor trick doesn't work any more. LOL i understand that pretty soon, i'll be posting requests for ideas on how to get his lazy teenage patootie OUT of the bed.
it takes 15 minutes or less depends on how tired she is and if she is sleeping in bed with me and her dad .
there has been new evidence that says that cio causes damage to the brain due to the lack of oxygen to the brain.also it can cause psychological damage in infants because the feel they needs won't be met.i am not sure if the psychological part applies to toddlers or not. but i am against cio.especially with infants!!!!
I do not use CIO with my children. Letting them cry themselves to sleep is dangerous and mean. Once I get my daughter to sleep, I lay her down and she's out. Not only does she sleep well, she fell asleep happy knowing I'm there for her and she doesn't have to be afraid.