Lately, our king size bed has felt a lot smaller with 0ur tiny tyke being the infamous bedtime bandit.
London had been ill with the flu for about 2 weeks;(WELCOME TO PRESCHOOL LIFE, THATS ANOTHER POST) his dear ole Papa thought it would be a good idea to take him out his bed, and have him cozy up with us for a few nights. His reasoning, he would be warmer, we could console him and better monitor him while he was ill.
A few nights has now turned into a few weeks, as London the great has become the night time bandit, doing his acrobat moves and flips out his bed into ours. We then in turn become foot rests, pillows, casualties and God’s knows what else. Our bed has now become his bed apparently. The issue with this is that NOW the ONLY person who possibly is getting adequate rest is LONDON! Then Mommy is up early again and working what seems like 48 hour in a day, looking like a zombie and running on life’s ultimate gem COFFEE! (one of the most incredible brands of coffee you will EVER drink)
According to Parents “A child sleeping in his/her room/bed all night pushes the reset button, so to speak, on whatever anxiety your child is having about being there alone. He/She can wake up and see Mom or Dad each time, then just go back to sleep.” And while you as a parent may be exhausted and think this is a great solution to the tiredness; this bad habit isn’t good for little munchkin nor parent.
The good news: You can untrain your little munchkin who’s taking over your bed.
The bad news: It may not be pretty. Your life is not an episode of Supernanny and your family’s sleep issues won’t get resolved in an hour or even a day. If you really want to make the change, though, and you’re prepared for tears, wails and cries of “But Mommy, don’t you love me?” you’ll make it through.
So to assist in reversing this epidemic, we’ve been trying to get him back on schedule .
Dinner by 6:30pm
A balanced meal consisting of foods from each food group, I’ve found this assists in making London feel full and sustained so he doesn’t wake up in the middle of the night hungry.
Play until 7 pm
And this play time is interactive or discovery play. During this time I do not allow TV (unless it is on the weekend) so as he is not wired before bed. I get him to draw, practicing writing, create things with building blocks, (he got this set for Christmas and it has really expanded his imagination and his dexterity, dance(he loves to dance), sing nursery rhymes, use his imagination and play with his toys, such as his train set, trucks, teddy bears, leggo people, or even an interactive book to strengthen his vocabulary or word skills and memory.
Bath time by 7:30pm
London loves bath time ! We either use this time to practice key learning points with him through song, such as the sounds the letters make, the days of the week, counting and spelling sight words. It also lets him whine down, relax and practice his teeth brushing.
Story time by 8 pm
After he is dressed in his PJs, he goes to his book stack to choose a story book and I will read the story. Depending on the length, we will red it twice. First time explaining the visuals on the page, and the second time pointing to the words on the page so he can become familiar. Usually twice reading one book is never enough, BUT but the third time he knows its time to turn off the lights and get ready to go to bed.
In HIS bed by 8:30pm
London loves his blanket , so he goes into his bed with the blanket and rolls around a bit to get comfy, he may even sing ; Nonetheless, I take off the lights, gap the door and just check in on him ever so often to ensure he’s sleeping. If he calls out to me or cries I will go check on him and may sit with him for a bit, but I leave him to ensure he falls asleep independently .
PRAY FOR ME!
If you have any tips on how you’ve gotten your toddler to not be codependent at bedtime & stay in their OWN bed. Holla at your girl. I love the cuddles but I just want MY BED BACK! lol
