Well, we were all up at 4:00 am again on Monday, so Blake and I made a game plan. We were going to put him to bed on time and then not get him out until a reasonable hour in the morning, even if it meant there was crying involved.
So, Blake put Wesley in his crib after his bath and bedtime story on Monday night. A minute later he was hollering. I went in to put his blankets back on him, which usually is all he needs, but instead Wesley announced that he was "all done sleeping." Mind you, he had only been in bed for 1 minute. He was most definitely not all done sleeping!
I told him it was night time and he needed to go to sleep. I walked out and shut the door. He hollered for another minute, and then it got quiet. Soon I heard two loud thumps. Next I heard Wesley's door open. Then I saw him standing at the top of the stairs. Wesley climbed out of his crib! And opened his door! There went our plan...
I finally got him to go to sleep, and he slept through until 4:00 am. Then I heard him make his usual announcement of "all done sleeping!" and then he started whining. A minute later he said, "Oh!" Translation: "I can climb out of bed now. Why am I calling for mommy?" Sure enough, I heard another loud thump and Wesley opened his door and came walking into our room. At that point there wasn't much we could do. His crib couldn't hold him and a closed door couldn't stop him either, so we all just started our day at the crack of dawn again, determined to have a new plan by that night.
Blake was in charge of the new plan while I went to an evening meeting. Here's what he did while I was away:
He replaced Wesley's doorknob with one from our room and made it lock on the outside of the room. Now Wesley can't wander around the house in the middle of the night!
Then Blake took off the front part of the crib so it's more or less a toddler bed now. If Wesley falls out, at least it won't be as long of a drop as when he climbed out!
We put Wesley to bed extra late (well, late for us) on Tuesday, hoping that would fix any time change issues he was having. We also got him a new toy that is only for in his bedroom in the morning. That's our attempt at bribing him to stay in his room after he wakes up. We put a few locks on the drawers and set up the video monitor again so we can make sure he's safe. I also picked up a touch lamp today so he can turn on a light in the morning. Maybe if he can see better to play or read books, he won't be calling for us so early. We're crossing our fingers and hoping it all adds up to later mornings for us! I'll keep you posted...
Ha! What a clever but naughty boy! ;)
ReplyDeleteDavey was put into a toddler bed around the same time. And instead of putting a lock on his door we just put a good door knob cover on the inside of his door. He still has it on there. He can't handle the responsiblilty of coming out of his room at a decent hour otherwise! ;) Whatever works!
Hope you have a better nights sleep!
-Sara
Yeah, we put a door knob cover on his door too - just to reinforce the fact that he shouldn't be roaming around outside of his room!
ReplyDeleteGood idea! :) It's a scary thought...having your kids roam around the house without your knowledge! LOL! We experimented about a month ago, and took off Davey's door knob cover. He would wake up around 6am (way early for our kids) and come straight to our room all excited and get in my face and say "Hi mommy!". It scared the poop out of me! LOL! ;)
ReplyDeleteOooooh, it is so nice being 57, and having an empty house! I'm even relieved that Rocky is no longer downstairs wimpering to get out first thing in the morning.
ReplyDeleteBlake, your ideas are all brilliant. I was not as clever. You did the exact same thing to us when you were Wesley's age, and after a few mornings of getting up at 4:30 am with a playing toddler, I decided that was for the birds. I finally stomped into your room and said, "No! Go back to sleep!" You caught on quickly, too, that you could climb out of your crib. I remember quite well, hearing that first thump! History is repeating itself. I used to wish for payback someday, but now I feel sorry for you. Ha, ha.
Good luck with your little mini me! ...And remember, this too shall pass.
...Another thing, although Brandon never got us up like Blake did, and Wesley is doing to you, Sara is right! You do whatever it takes to get a good night's sleep. That's why I stacked bottles of water tinted with a tablespoon of grape juice (so as not to rot baby teeth) in Brandon's crib. He had his own stash. It made for very wet diapers in the morning, but it was worth the uninterrupted sleep. (Also, his bottle was taken away without any fanfare when he was a toddler.)
ReplyDeleteOh, and just to add...I believe Scarlett will be the type of toddler that climbs out of her crib someday. Just the other day I caught her standing up high on the seat of her stroller, very proud of herself. I looked away for one second! Haha! She thinks of things Davey never did!
ReplyDelete-Sara
So how did Wesley do during the night last night? Did you hear thumping around in his room during the night? How did this morning go? Maybe he needs a sippy cup of water, and a bowl of cheerios set out for him. He can read, and snack until it's "really" time to get up! I hope he didn't stand at his door yelling for you. Hopefully he thought it was really snazzy to up and free inside his room. :)Did you watch him on the video monitor? I can't wait to hear how it all went!!!! You were probably awake at 4:30 anyway, watching him on the monitor.
ReplyDelete