Another Question...
For those of you who have kids or work with them, here's another question: how do you get your toddler to sleep? What's a good routine? How long does it take to get them used to it? Once Katelynn's down for the night, we're usually golden, but sometimes the struggle is just getting her to go to sleep.
I worked with her for an hour last night. I read to her, offered her sippy cup of milk, and cuddled with her. Then when she was rubbing her eyes a lot, I'd put her in her crib. She would act like she was going to go to sleep and would be quiet for five or ten minutes and then she would begin to scream bloody murder. I went through the whole process about 3 times last night before she finally took in more milk and calmed down to go to sleep. By that point, it was really beginning to get dark. I partially blame myself for not having her on a routine before this and also blame daylight savings time. DST really screws up little children's circadian rhythms.
So the questions of the day are: How do (or did) you get your toddler to sleep at a decent hour? What did you do when they would scream? Do you let them cry until they fall asleep or do you comfort them? I know she's capable of falling asleep on her own. She does that about half the time. I'd like to see it all the time. Maybe that's just wishful thinking, who knows?
Labels:
toddler tips
2 comments:
Sleep issues are so intensely personal. What you have to do depends so much on your personality and your child's personality, your needs and her needs, there isn't any single "one size fits all" solution.
My best advice is to do only what you can live with. If you will feel like a monster letting her "cry it out," then don't. If you will be miserable with sleep deprivation if you don't let her learn to cry it out, then do what you must.
You and Matt are the people who have to live with it, though. It's easy for someone 100 miles away to say, "Oh, let her cry!" or whatever, they can't hear her. They won't feel guilty if they do something that goes against their instincts. You will.
I was a terrible sleeper. I can still make my mom cry if I bring up the single time that she let me cry it out. Now I've gotten Mom's revenge in the form of MG, who doesn't seem to need more than 7 or 8 hours a night, as long as she gets some sort of nap (as little as 20 minutes, as we proved today). She still isn't sleeping through the night at 23 months. She's still nursing. She's a mess.
Claire, on the other hand, is sleeping 8 - 10 hours at a stretch, will go to sleep if laid down in the swing or the bed and left alone, and she actually prefers not to nurse to sleep! They are polar opposites.
Figure out what works, not only for your child, but for your family, and then try to be consistent. That's all you can do. And remember that eventually, no matter what you do or don't do, they will learn to fall asleep on their own, and they will sleep through the night. These sleepless early years seem so long when you're in the middle of them, but they really are short, in the great scheme. Don't worry.
Good news is that I've come up with some resemblence of a routine. Katelynn comes home and plays. (Or plays until dinner if she's home already) Dinnertime is around 5:30-6:30...somewhere in there. Then it is time for a bath, which she loves! We get her ready for bed and depending on the weather we three go for a walk. Nine times out of ten, the walk really calms her down. I had been making the choice to let her play after we came back from the walk, but have discovered that playing winds her up and she does not want to go to sleep. Not so great choice. Now when we come back from a walk, I take her straight to her room, close the door, read a little bit and cuddle with her. I make sure the blinds are closed as possible since her room faces west. We cuddle anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes, depending how quickly she becomes drowsy and/or falls asleep.
When the weather does not permit our beloved walk, we get her ready for bed and she and I stay in her room. We still read and cuddle, etc. I also make sure she has her sippy cup of milk before she goes to bed. There's nothing worse than having to go to bed on an empty stomach and that seems to be one of the major sources of her crying.
Between 7 and 8 is the appointed bedtime. It was a little rough at first, (and goodness, I hope I'm not jinxing myself!) but I think she's starting to get the idea. And it helps that I don't give her the choice to play with toys after the bath.
Kids do need some type of structure and Matt & I are coming to the conclusion fast that she's capable of learning the structure. We have to remember to stick to it. :)
Post a Comment