Saturday, January 17, 2009
Big girl bed
Does anyone have suggestions on how to do this smoothly. We put a mattress on the floor and she was excited at first but when it came to bed time, she was scared. Richard has been laying with her for the past hour on it. Is that what our lives are going to be like now, sleeping with her? This seems like the hardest thing we have had to do with her in a very long time. What do we do if she wakes up? She doesn't know how to open doors yet so I guess that is a plus. Do we just leave her in there to work it out and eventually crash?
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2 comments:
This is why we have TWO cribs! I'm still not willing to let McKenna sleep in a big girl bed; I need her confined!!! So sorry, no words of wisdom. I can't believe Keira is two, I miss you in the library and McKenna got that same little pink laptop for Christmas--funny!
It's a hard one and every kid is different. My daughter always hated her crib so she was sleeping with her crib matress on the floor since she was 11 months old. Crazy, I know. But it's what worked for her.
But we used to always rock her to sleep or lay in there by her to get her to sleep. Sometimes it would take us hours. Finally one day I said, "Enough is enough." I realized that she was plenty old enough to be going to sleep by herself and staying in her bed.
We picked a day to do it when my husband and I were home together all night. I explained to her all day that she was going to go sleep all by herself like a big girl in her new big girl bed. I said it with as much excitement as I could. I laid it all out for her. I told her that I would be just outside the door but that she needed to stay in bed.
When night came, we did our normal bedtime routine (put pjs on, brush teeth, read a book, say prayers) and then I told her that I would rock-a-bye her for 5 minutes and then she was going to bed all by herself like a big girl.
After rocking her for exactly 5 minutes, I gave her lots of kisses and carried her to her bed. I said, "Mommy is so proud of you. You are a big girl and now you are going to learn how to go to sleep in your big girl bed all by yourself." I explained that she needed to stay in bed and go night-night. I told her how much I loved her and gave her a final kiss.
I left the room but left the door open. I stood out in the hallway (where she couldn't see me). At first she cried and then came out to the hall to find me. The first time she came out. I told her that I loved her and that she needed to go back to bed. I walked her into her room and helped her onto her bed.
After I left she again ran out into the hall. I walked her back into bed but did not say anything to her. And again. And again. Dozens of times that night. There were lots of tears and lots of trips back to bed. After a few days, I started shutting the door. She would cry and cry and eventually fall asleep in front of the door.
However, after only two or three nights of her falling asleep by the door she finally got the picture. She understood that when it was bedtime, she needed to go to sleep.
It was a hard habit for us to break, but now she finally sleeps in her big girl bed all by herself. There are NO tears at night and she is excited and proud that she can do it all by herself.
Every kid is different. You know your daughter better than anyone. Just make a plan that works for YOU and then stick to it. It might be difficult the first few days but the reward is SO WORTH IT in the end.
Good luck!
P.S. Sorry this is so long! And I didn't spell-check so I hope it's okay!
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