Sleep Rules - Sleep Training part 2
When Evan moved to a toddler bed and didn't have his crib rails to confine him, I thought it was over and my sleep training efforts had been in vain. I would spend like 1-1/2 hours trying to get him to put his head down and stay in bed. He run to the door, open it and come running out screaming every time I left his room!
I literally got down on my knees and prayed that God would show me what to do. He did. I had to do 3 things: 1) install a child-safety lock, 2) together we made a colorful "Evan's Sleep Rules" sign that he decorated and posted above his bed, which we had to go over and over the sleep rules until he committed it to memory, and 3) make a rewards chart for staying in bed and having a good "happy nappy." The goal was to earn enough stickers for a harmonica, then the Shrek movie, then a Spiderman mask. It worked. Evan was right back to being a great sleeper after that.
My advice is not to switch to a toddler bed too early, and especially when you have a critical deadline to make (like the birth of a sibling who needs the crib) -- it’s too much pressure for everyone.
Our Sleep Rules are, 1) Stay in bed, 2) Put your heady down, 3) Close your eyes, and 5) Shhhh...be quiet. I used to always tell him, "Remember your sleep rules..." Now he just knows them. In fact, he is the one telling me, “Mommy, you have to go to sleep, too—just close your eyes and put your heady down.” And now we also leave the door open and the hallway light on. He never fails to ask that when we’re on our way home, “Daddy, can you leave the door open and the light on?” It’s his verbal ritual. “Yes, Evan.” “Oh thank you, Daddy!”
I literally got down on my knees and prayed that God would show me what to do. He did. I had to do 3 things: 1) install a child-safety lock, 2) together we made a colorful "Evan's Sleep Rules" sign that he decorated and posted above his bed, which we had to go over and over the sleep rules until he committed it to memory, and 3) make a rewards chart for staying in bed and having a good "happy nappy." The goal was to earn enough stickers for a harmonica, then the Shrek movie, then a Spiderman mask. It worked. Evan was right back to being a great sleeper after that.
My advice is not to switch to a toddler bed too early, and especially when you have a critical deadline to make (like the birth of a sibling who needs the crib) -- it’s too much pressure for everyone.
Our Sleep Rules are, 1) Stay in bed, 2) Put your heady down, 3) Close your eyes, and 5) Shhhh...be quiet. I used to always tell him, "Remember your sleep rules..." Now he just knows them. In fact, he is the one telling me, “Mommy, you have to go to sleep, too—just close your eyes and put your heady down.” And now we also leave the door open and the hallway light on. He never fails to ask that when we’re on our way home, “Daddy, can you leave the door open and the light on?” It’s his verbal ritual. “Yes, Evan.” “Oh thank you, Daddy!”
