Winning the War on Toddler Sleep

Let me preface this article by saying I am not a sleep expert. I am just a desperate tired mom who really enjoys sleep. I also really enjoy happiness. Here's my story on how I attempted to achieve both. Live and learn.

My son, in all his glory, for an entire year had been showing his, um, should we say, leadership skills? Especially when it came to his bedtime. Throughout the year we tried everything. And I mean everything. There was no stone unturned. Sticker charts, bribing, locking the door with a childproof lock (he figured that one out in seconds!), skipping the nap, earlier bedtime, later bedtime, etcetera. We even went as far as the ever so famous Silent To Bed Routine. Phhhhshhh, um ya. That didn't even begin to touch our son.

We were desperate. It was time to become the SLEEP MASTERS. And once we got started, there was no looking back. Heck, even Super Nanny couldn't touch us.

I won't go into all the dirty details, but trust me, it got dirty. Well, especially the language that goes through my mind when I think about the insanity of it all. But, I digress. We're past that now. My sense of humor has returned, and I am thinking Happy Thoughts.

Happy Thoughts.

Here is what I believe has saved us. And by saved, I mean my mental health. And his life. No...HA HA! I'm Kidding! TOTALLY KIDDING!!!

Moving on then.

First of all, consistency does pay off. We developed a system. We knew he valued his things. His toys were crucial to his happiness during the day. We also found a bathroom that annoyed him. It has no windows and the fan automatically runs when the light is on. Wa la. Time out Central! Each time "my husbands son" (as I lovingly refer to him when he's trouble) would get out of bed, we would start by silently marching him into the bathroom for five minutes. (Three minutes for his age, plus two for my sanity.) Each time out = 1 thing we would take away, starting with his pillow. Then the blankie...and so on. One long and painful night, we had to take so many things away that it ended up he had nothing to do or play with the following day. (Yes, that was a long long day for both of us!) But, as I recited night after dreadful night, "Your stuff is a privelege, and if you don't follow the rules, then you lose your privileges. When you obey the rules, you get more priveleges. So, if you want your stuff, you need to choose to obey."

Next, a reader of my blog, emailed me a brilliant idea. She had dealt with the same issues with one of her kids and ended up using a "tooth fairy" sort of an idea. I loved it and used it right away. We called it, "The Bed Time Fairy." She comes every night, but you never know when she's going to leave a treat, so we told him he had better stay in bed every night just in case it was "Treat Night."

And what do you know? It worked like a charm! For a whole week straight I was in mommy heaven. My child walked on water as far as I was concerned!

But, he's smart, that kid. He must know all about the developmental stage of testing the limits, and so suddenly he followed suit. Sadly, our system seemed to head to the crapper. Bed Time Fairy bit the dust, and the pillow and blankie became mine all over again.

Dumb Leadership Skills. Ugh. Whatever.

But, he didn't get those smarts on his own. Nuh uh, he got them from his mama, and I was one up on him. I knew I needed to stick to my guns. We had a system and we were sticking with it. And within another week, he realized the game was old. He missed the comfort of his pillow, the safety of his blankie, and the wonder of the treats that the Bed Time Fairy might leave him.

This is about the time we instituted another miracle. The Good Nite Lite. If you don't know about this, you should. It's my best friend. I want to hug the man who created it. It's a night light alarm clock that you set up. First you adjust the time for sleep and then the time for waking. At sleep time, it turns into a moon. At wake time, it changes to a sun! Genuis. The man is a freaking genuis!

So, with the mad skills we had already developed along with the Nite Lite Rules, (no getting out of bed until you see the sun....or "you'll get it where the sun don't shine" is what I wanted to add...) suddenly we found ourselves sleeping like babies again.

The birds started chirping in the morning. I regained (some) sanity. I even felt a touch of happiness. I think an angel even got her wings.

Like I said, I'm not an expert. But, I was desperate. If you are too, try these three things:

Consistency

Bed Time Fairy

Good Nite Lite

Then take two and call me in the morning.

And if my genius ways don't work, I hear Super Nanny makes house calls.