Oh my ... as I type this I am listening to the sounds of Ethan throwing one of the *best* fits of his little life. You see he's not a fit thrower and for those of you that really know him, he is a good natured, sweet little boy who is very easy going. But we've been seeing his not so nice three year old side the last few weeks and to be honest I'm exhausted and feeling at the end of my measure of patience each day.
So bedtime has been getting more and more difficult for us (again something *new* for us as we were blessed with a great little sleeper from the get go). Bedtime is taking upwards of 1.5 hours to get Ethan to sleep. Now, if he were in his bed reading, singing, laying in bed I wouldn't mind a bit ... we all need time to unwind before going to sleep. But instead, it's getting up for this and that and then that again, no wait this ... we take away privileges like his books and music ("bob") and have now resorted to his beloved blankie and elephant. Sadly, it's not working.
Tonight I decided to get tough, I'm trying it Super Nanny's way ...
First time he got up after crying for about 10 minutes that he had to go potty again. Usually his first stalling tactic. I took away books, music and blankie and elephant. I told him I wasn't going to talk to him again tonight, it was bed time and he needed to stay in bed. The crying began, this time wailing that he needed me to wipe his nose. He got up again, I led him back to bed, no eye contact, no words. The hysterics continued ... he got up again, I led him back to bed. He was clinging to me, grabbing me. Honestly, it's so hard to not go up there an comfort him, but I think the root of our problem is him wanting attention, so I'm hoping and praying this technique might work and the nights ahead will get better.
I think I might have to cry myself to sleep after hearing him crying, "My mommy, she's not being nice to me."
Parenting is hard work as I've been reminded of a lot lately.
Sorry this isn't the fun post it was supposed to be. This weekend turned out to be way busier than I planned and really I'm just getting through right now. Hopefully more cherry thoughts and some happy pictures in the next few days.
Happy Monday to you, from a not so happy Monday for us!
8 comments:
:(
not fun!
wishing you lots of luck!
I think you are handling it exactly the right way...tough to do, but sounds like attention is the thing he's after. As someone with a background in behavior modification, know that things always get worse before they get better...testing, testing...
You can do it!! At least once a day my response to Claire is "I must be the meanest mommy in the world." I swear she feels this sometimes (especially now that we've started another Super Nanny favorite, the naughty step). But go ahead, be the meanest mommy in the world, you'll all be happier in the long run :)
Oh Andrea, I feel your pain! I have a little 4 year old that does the same thing. She has now progressed to staying in her room but it takes her at least an hour before she is asleep. Last night we put her to bed at 8:00...10:00 and she finally feel asleep. It's tough but hang in there. This too shall pass :0)
Are you in my brain? Seriously. We just went through this with Judah a week ago (I guess it *ended* a week ago)....I was fighting him at nap time AND bedtime for at least an hour and a half. I hate that I found a great solution. No more naps. I hate hate hate it. I have no break in the middle of the day, but I don't have to fight him anymore, and *that* is worth it to me. He makes it really well through the day, and at bedtime, after about 5-10 minutes of singing, talking, and an occasional "Mommy? Mommy?" he goes right to sleep....Hope you can figure this one out...my prayers are with you.
I feel for you...I'm still doing the long bedtime routine with Ashlynn, but I know it's because I let her sleep 3 hours in the afternoon. ;o)
Stand firm, you are a good mommy!
You can do it! But boy is it tough! Hang in there, I like what someone else said... this too shall pass.
I promise you it will get better! You're doing it the right way! Don't give up my friend!
Post a Comment