Friday, November 14, 2008

Why -O Why -O Why -O did I ever leave Ohio?!

So if you notice the time stamp on this here post, you will notice that it is ridiculously early. Just a little after 6 AM to be exact. Why am I up and blogging this early you may ask. Because I am apparently a glutton for punishment. Here's my dilemma.

Last week Peanut discovered how to climb out of his crib. Something they all eventually figure out how to do. Once this skill comes into play, it time to get them out of the crib and into a real bed. I learned this lesson when Bug first learned how to climb out because it almost always invites an injury. The rail to the crib is chest high on me. So they have to be able to swing their pudgy little leg over that and jump (from chest high) to the floor. And pray that there are no sharp or pokey toys in their landing area. (Which is hardly ever the case) It usually ends badly.

So when Peanut hit this milestone, I thought "great time to ditch the crib and make the transition". So taking baby steps into this transition I took the front part of his crib off. So basically he just had a toddler bed that he could get in and out of. Then we put a little rail up so that he does not just fall out in the night. There was about 6 inches at the foot of his bed that he could get in and out of. This seemed like a great plan.... in theory.

Boy was I wrong.

Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!!!

We have had this set up for 3 nights now. He manages to still fall out of bed 3 or 4 times a night. Then wakes up confused as to how he ended up on the floor.

But the biggest flaw in this great plan is that he now has the freedom to get in and out of bed at will. This means when it's time to go to bed he needs to know it is bedtime time and that he needs to be quiet and go to bed. Unfortunately I am expecting rational logic from a 2 year old. That's my problem. Another flaw in this plan....he shares a room with Bug. So between the two of them they sit up and chatter like a couple of sorority sisters half the night.

I have asked, I have pleaded, I have threatened, I have begged...."please ,please be quiet and go to sleep!!!" (insert your own "or ______ will happen/you won't be able to do __/___will end up at the Goodwill/there will be no birthday this year!")

Over the years this issue has never really given me a lot grief. Bedtime has always been strictly enforced. There has never been wiggle room. It was absolute. But then came Peanut and the need to share a room. Bedtime is still enforced, but with him contained in the crib it really was not all that big of an issue. He and Bug would chatter and talk for about a half an hour and then crash. But now he has the freedom to get out and play. Which keeps Bug up far longer than he likes. Bug wants to quiet down and go to sleep and Peanut is not letting him. This is a major problem. Bug does not have to luxury to take a nap in the middle of the day like Peanut. So he is starting to act up in school mainly because he's not getting enough sleep at night.

But the biggest problem as of recent is not getting to bed. It's getting up at freakish hours and playing. Kids by nature are early risers. I am fine with that (mostly) as I am a morning person myself. But this morning Peanut woke up at 4:30 (yes AM) and decided he was bored so he woke up Bug to have someone to play with. Poor Bug just can't fall back asleep. Once he is up, he's up. I was able to shut their door and try to get back and catch just a couple more ZZZ's myself. But no go. Somewhere around 5, an argument broke out over a toy dispute (which in turn woke Sunshine up) so in order to save face (and at least let my husband sleep) I had to take everyone downstairs. Not happy.

So now I am faced with a dilemma.......How do other people do this whole room sharing thing? I feel terrible for Bug that he can never get to sleep through the night without being pestered by his siblings. I know each child having their own room is a luxury many kids don't know. Do you just put up with a couple years of sleep deprivation (by the whole family) and motor through it much like the newborn phase?

Also should I put the crib back together and hope Peanut has a major injury climbing in and out? I know that seems odd to take away a freedom that has been granted, but for the sanity of the rest of the family.

Any thoughts? Suggestion? Mind numbing drugs?

So for now I am just going to get the kids off to school and spend the rest of my day (drinking) beating my head against the wall.

6 comments:

j said...

Here is your solution

Jax said...

That may be frowned upon by child protective services. But I like where you are going with this.

Kristin Coppee said...

Oh great! Now I'm feeling anxiety about my youngest getting into a bed. It took a while for my middle child to get used to it. What a nightmare THAT was! I had this "brilliant" idea recently to have my youngest start sleeping in a bed now and my husband looked at me like I had three heads. I am NOT looking forward to that. For now I'm just gonna' be thankful she can't get out of her crib yet and get as much sleep as possible.

Anonymous said...

I have an actual solution for you! Our youngest was able to climb out before he was 1. Very dangerous. I found something called a crib tent. I really worked. You secure it to the top of the crib and zip it up. Then he learned how to unzip it, so I just tied the end so he couldn't work it undone. He slept in that until he turned three which was last week. I finally did remove the front of the crib after I left the tent unzipped to make sure he was used to not getting out when he was told. Now for a week or so, he has been sleeping in his "cribbit" as he calls it and does very well-to my surprise. Peanut is just not ready yet. The good news is that I am not using mine anymore. It has a few tears in the mesh, but I think I can sew them up. I will bring it to Bunco if you want. Better yet, I will bring it by and help you set it up if you want. As far as the noise thing. Our daughter and three year old share and yes, there is a lot of sleep deprevation. Sometimes I try to put her to bed first hoping she will fall asleep first than I put him down. Since he takes a later nap it works sometimes. We have moved him back to our room, or let him sleep in our bed a few times and have even let our daughter fall asleep on our bed or the couch and then moved her. I am not one to spank, spank, spank, into submission, so sometimes our family just has to be flexible and make different things work. I have not found one way that works every time. Just flexibility is the best. Let me know if you want it.

Jax said...

Thank you for your suggestion. I do remember talking about that tent thing. I got frustrated about the whole situation and took the crib completely out of the room and put him on the bottom bunk (which really is a mattress of the floor) of Bug's loft bed. Then last night I used what was called "the bedtime technique" from something I saw on Supernanny. It took about 45 minutes, but Peanut got the idea that it was time for bed and that he was not allowed out of bed. This morning they all slept in until 6 Which was a pleasant surprise. I checked on him a couple times in the night and he didn't get up and play. So I consider that a small victory. We'll see how this works longterm though. Also I am right behind you on not spanking unto submission. We gave up spanking 2 years ago and haven't looked back. In our house it just was not effective. Some houses it works for, but we had a really hard time not spanking in anger. We started to get a child abuse vibe. Like I said, some people have no problem controlling anger. We had a few hang ups (as we all do with something). Thank you for the offer and suggestion though.

Anonymous said...

I like the bedtime tech. I saw it on SN as well. I am doing the same thing with CP. It does seem to work. He is not one to push the limits hard though, so I have had it fairly easy so far-as staying in bed goes anyway. Knock on wood!!! Glad they slept a little longer. I know what you mean with the spanking out of anger. I just had to stop too, cause one of my children just knows how to push my buttons. I just have to give myself a time out and take away privelelges. I do spank on occasion, but try to keep it to the really bid stuff. Glad you found a solution.

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