I was totally going to sleep-train DS today . . .

[mom3boys]

After a few rocky days weeks, my own acknowledgement that I had not nipped certain bad habits in the bud and that therefore DS3 could not seem to nap for more than 20 minutes unless he was sleeping ON someone, and that I had spent 1 hour+ putting him down a couple of nights in a row only for him to scream, DH to feel sorry for him, and me to find him back in our living room at 9 or 10 pm, I decided formal sleep training was in order. I refamiliarized myself with the necessary chapters from Weissbluth's "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" and told DH to expect some crying, I would be putting DS down properly, in his crib, for naps. And, at night, DH was NOT to go get him or go comfort him under any circumstances, once I had put him down, no matter HOW MUCH crying there was.

Well, DS3 totally foiled my plans. I put him down, awake but drowsy, in his crib for morning nap. Same thing for afternoon nap, same thing for bedtime at 7:15, which is earlier than I usually put him down. And each time he fussed for about 1 second and then fell asleep and stayed asleep--1 hour for morning nap, 2+ hours in the afternoon, 4.5 hours and counting for night-time. Zero crying. Well, maybe he can do better tomorrow :).

And as the cherry on top DS1 uncomplainingly did all his homework, which was a lot. I decided he had had enough and I would wait to start on his new "sight word" list for the week tomorrow. So I'm like, "OK buddy, we're done" and he's like "What about my word list?" he wanted to do the words, too. This kid would barely color or a few months ago.

Kids are great sometimes!

[baymom]

Your post made me smile--glad you had such a great day!

[sunshine873]

Thank you for the reminder that the good days come too!

I heard that 3 yo temper tantrums are worse than 2 yo ones. DD turned 3 on Saturday and has been making it her mission to prove that statement true! So hoping I get one of those fabulous, everything is happy days soon! ;)

PS, congrats on your wonderful day!

[Tondi G]

Awesome!!!!

[daisymommy]

They sure like to keep us on our toes, don't they? ;)
So glad night 1 was easy for you, and hope it continues that way!


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[Minnifer]

That's awesome!! I love when they surprise you like that. I just sleep trained DS to get him out of my bed at night and let's just say it went nowhere near as well (understatement, LOL).

You do know you've jinxed yourself now though, right? ;);)

[hillview]

wahoo!!:cheerleader1::cheerleader1:

[carolinamama]

Glad it all went so well.

[crl]

Can you come to my house and convince my toddler to sleep past 4:30 am? It sounds like you have the magic touch!

Catherine

[mom3boys]

Hah, I'm sure there will be some crying tonight with DS3--I think I got really lucky with the timing yesterday that he was exactly "tired" enough every time! But, the good night continued--he woke up once to eat at 1:30, went right back to sleep until 7:00 am!

I tried to think of something great that DS2 had done too, but he was a typical 3 year old in terms of tantrums (yes, I think 3 is worse than 2 in this regard), and he has basically gone from being totally potty-trained months ago to peeing/pooing "just enough" in his pants, before he gets to the toilet, that his underpants/pants need to be changed (while still yelling at me that he DOES NOT have to go even though he is simultaneously peeing in the potty)--I think it is an attention-getting issue in light of DS3 taking up so much time--so anyway sorry DS2, you are still frustrating me, and I guess given this I can't quite give myself the gold star for parenting yet, but I figure if you have 3 kids, and 2 of your kids make your day easy, the other one can be a challenge and it's really not a big deal.

[indigo99]

Is that book helpful? I don't really have extra time to read it, but we're having some sleep issues.

[vonfirmath]

Is that book helpful? I don't really have extra time to read it, but we're having some sleep issues.

I LOVE that book.
My baby started sleeping 100% better when I moved her sleep time back after reading the book. We don't have naps conquered yet. But I also haven't implemented well.

[Mommy_Mea]

We are starting sleep training for DS2 on Friday, and this gives me hope! Yay for your DS! :bighand:

[mom3boys]

I think the book is very helpful. I read it for DS1 but I realize I never read further than about the 5-8 month stage. There is advice in there for toddler/older child sleep problems as well.

I remember with DS1 I read all the introductory stuff about sleep patterns, why sleep is important, yada yada yada. It was interesting and helpful for understanding the methods but you could probably skim through it or skip over it for now. I wouldn't have time to read that much now so I just read part of the chapter for kids 5-8 months (DS3 is 6 months) and then referred back to a few pages here or there that were in the previous section (3-4 months or whatever it is) about how old the baby is when certain napping patterns form and info on the "Extinction Method" which is basically Cry-It-Out.

I am not much of a reader of parenting books either, but I like that one. The only thing I don't like is, he kind of makes you feel guilty for not adhering to your baby's daytime sleep needs--i.e., strictly adhering to naps in an appropriate place. I agree that this is important, but when you have more than 1 child, and especially if you have a school-aged child who needs to be picked up, it is virtually impossible to avoid interrupting younger children's naps.

[momm]

How wonderful!! Yippee!!