For a kid who loves his crib and has lately been picking up his blankie and politely asking us to follow him into his room for bedtime, yesterday was a bit traumatic.
Leda, she was fine. Last night she was up at her usual midnight and 4:30am though I think she appreciates the upgrade from play yard to real crib.
Cole, on the other hand, was a mess. Not so much with the actual sleeping. He does that just fine for the most part once he gets down to business. Oh, sure, the occasional wakeup in the middle of the night...but he plays for awhile and never bothers us to come in during the night.
Getting him to settle down is another matter.
Nap time I was on my own yesterday. Though Kelly had stayed to oversee handling of the kids while I moved the crib and re-assembled it, she did have to actually go to work once the mattress delivery guys came. Luckily, I was able to get a very sleepy Leda into her new crib for a decent sleep.
Not that Cole wasn't absolutely sleepy. His usual nap is 3 hours after he wakes up in the morning. And he usually sleeps for 2-3 hours. Usually 10am-noon or something like that. Well, we were hours and hours late and it showed. Kelly, before she left, had even asked if he was ready and he picked up his blanket...and headed for Leda's now-crib.
Poor guy. I had work to do.
He loves the bed...for jumping, for playing...so my tactic was get him in it then try to ease him into calm. We had milk, we read books, I laid down for a bit next to him. No dice. Eventually, I shifted to just plain gate him in and let him fall when he's ready. Which he did. A long time later. And after all the books, toys, and clothes in his room made into in the hallway over the baby gate. He eventually gave up.
For evening bedtime, I had my theories that it was in some ways easier. Dark. Naturally time for bed. Which turned out to be partly true. But not before the mother of all tantrums. I mean absolute meltdown of epic ratio.
I don't blame the kid. Change is hard. And scary.
Kelly and I teamed up together on this one thanks to a sleeping Leda again. So we tried the usual routine, but that quickly failed. We brought in Thomas and Percy. We read books by plastic, roaring lion flashlight. He hugged me tight trying desperately to flee to the living room.
But eventually we did what every parent eventually does. We left him. To cry. For about 5 min.
Then...nothing. Silence. Sleep. It's now 6:30am as I get ready for work and he's gone the entire night.
Now, whether he's actually IN the bed when we open the door to wake him up is another story. But he was for nap. Grandmas be on the lookout for one darn cute photo.
Leda, she was fine. Last night she was up at her usual midnight and 4:30am though I think she appreciates the upgrade from play yard to real crib.
Cole, on the other hand, was a mess. Not so much with the actual sleeping. He does that just fine for the most part once he gets down to business. Oh, sure, the occasional wakeup in the middle of the night...but he plays for awhile and never bothers us to come in during the night.
Getting him to settle down is another matter.
Nap time I was on my own yesterday. Though Kelly had stayed to oversee handling of the kids while I moved the crib and re-assembled it, she did have to actually go to work once the mattress delivery guys came. Luckily, I was able to get a very sleepy Leda into her new crib for a decent sleep.
Not that Cole wasn't absolutely sleepy. His usual nap is 3 hours after he wakes up in the morning. And he usually sleeps for 2-3 hours. Usually 10am-noon or something like that. Well, we were hours and hours late and it showed. Kelly, before she left, had even asked if he was ready and he picked up his blanket...and headed for Leda's now-crib.
Poor guy. I had work to do.
He loves the bed...for jumping, for playing...so my tactic was get him in it then try to ease him into calm. We had milk, we read books, I laid down for a bit next to him. No dice. Eventually, I shifted to just plain gate him in and let him fall when he's ready. Which he did. A long time later. And after all the books, toys, and clothes in his room made into in the hallway over the baby gate. He eventually gave up.
For evening bedtime, I had my theories that it was in some ways easier. Dark. Naturally time for bed. Which turned out to be partly true. But not before the mother of all tantrums. I mean absolute meltdown of epic ratio.
I don't blame the kid. Change is hard. And scary.
Kelly and I teamed up together on this one thanks to a sleeping Leda again. So we tried the usual routine, but that quickly failed. We brought in Thomas and Percy. We read books by plastic, roaring lion flashlight. He hugged me tight trying desperately to flee to the living room.
But eventually we did what every parent eventually does. We left him. To cry. For about 5 min.
Then...nothing. Silence. Sleep. It's now 6:30am as I get ready for work and he's gone the entire night.
Now, whether he's actually IN the bed when we open the door to wake him up is another story. But he was for nap. Grandmas be on the lookout for one darn cute photo.