"Let us celebrate our agreement with the adding of chocolate to milk."
Abbie has been in her toddler bed for a couple of months now, and is learning that she has a lot of new freedom. Specifically she has the freedom to do whatever she wants instead of sleeping since she can freely climb in and out of her bed, while she could only fall out of her crib once a night. Her old crib is still in her room, except it belongs to the twins now. We don’t let all three sleep simultaneously in the same room though since each child would probably take turns waking the other two.
We’re coming to an understanding when it’s time for her to sleep; I remove as many distractions as possible from her reach, and she falls asleep in a timely manner. Before I shut her door, we pick all of her books off the ground and any loose toys, and set them up beyond her grasp. I also lift her diaper pail out of her range so she can’t play with it and send her precious lambie out with the poopy diapers.* She still has a few large objects to play with, like the dresser drawers and the clothes inside or the stationary entertainer tucked under the twins’ crib, which she dutifully plays with for up to 30 minutes before climbing into bed for the night/nap.
At least, that’s the way it usually goes. Last night she discovered the mobiles hanging over the twins’ crib, and decided they were more interesting than sleep. When Ellie heard her squawking in her room beyond the customary 30 minutes, she opened the door to find her atop the twins’ carseats. We keep them stored next to the crib, and Abbie apparently climbed them in an attempt to reach the mobiles but couldn’t climb back down. Ellie thought it cute that she had trapped herself, helped Abbie back to bed, and shut the door so she could fall right to sleep.
A few minutes later the squawking resumed. Ellie opened the door and found Abbie trapped on the carseats again, although “trapped” probably isn’t the best word. “Trapped” implies that she was stuck there against her will; even if she could climb back down, she’d still be on the carseats trying to reach the mobile. I can relate as I try to look away from the Cubs’ annual collapse, but that train wreck is just too fascinating to ignore. Ellie thought it less cute that she trapped herself again, helped her back to bed, shut the door, and by God she’d better go right to sleep.
More squawking emanated a few minutes later. Ellie opened the door, lifted Abbie off the carseats and into bed, and lay in bed with her as a human railing. For 15 minutes she stayed in place while Abbie desperately tried to find a way back to the mobiles. She tried going around and going over; she tried whining, wailing, and even whimpering to no avail. To her credit she did not try biting, which was a welcome change from several months ago when she’d bite every time we impeded her. Eventually, Abbie wore out, and when she was too tired to move, Ellie left her to whimper off to sleep shortly before 11pm. The next day I added carseats to the list of things for me to lift off the floor before leaving her to sleep. We have a new agreement, and she goes to sleep eventually.
* She successfully dumped her lambie into the diaper pail recently. The smarter they get, the more dangerous they get.
We’re coming to an understanding when it’s time for her to sleep; I remove as many distractions as possible from her reach, and she falls asleep in a timely manner. Before I shut her door, we pick all of her books off the ground and any loose toys, and set them up beyond her grasp. I also lift her diaper pail out of her range so she can’t play with it and send her precious lambie out with the poopy diapers.* She still has a few large objects to play with, like the dresser drawers and the clothes inside or the stationary entertainer tucked under the twins’ crib, which she dutifully plays with for up to 30 minutes before climbing into bed for the night/nap.
At least, that’s the way it usually goes. Last night she discovered the mobiles hanging over the twins’ crib, and decided they were more interesting than sleep. When Ellie heard her squawking in her room beyond the customary 30 minutes, she opened the door to find her atop the twins’ carseats. We keep them stored next to the crib, and Abbie apparently climbed them in an attempt to reach the mobiles but couldn’t climb back down. Ellie thought it cute that she had trapped herself, helped Abbie back to bed, and shut the door so she could fall right to sleep.
A few minutes later the squawking resumed. Ellie opened the door and found Abbie trapped on the carseats again, although “trapped” probably isn’t the best word. “Trapped” implies that she was stuck there against her will; even if she could climb back down, she’d still be on the carseats trying to reach the mobile. I can relate as I try to look away from the Cubs’ annual collapse, but that train wreck is just too fascinating to ignore. Ellie thought it less cute that she trapped herself again, helped her back to bed, shut the door, and by God she’d better go right to sleep.
More squawking emanated a few minutes later. Ellie opened the door, lifted Abbie off the carseats and into bed, and lay in bed with her as a human railing. For 15 minutes she stayed in place while Abbie desperately tried to find a way back to the mobiles. She tried going around and going over; she tried whining, wailing, and even whimpering to no avail. To her credit she did not try biting, which was a welcome change from several months ago when she’d bite every time we impeded her. Eventually, Abbie wore out, and when she was too tired to move, Ellie left her to whimper off to sleep shortly before 11pm. The next day I added carseats to the list of things for me to lift off the floor before leaving her to sleep. We have a new agreement, and she goes to sleep eventually.
* She successfully dumped her lambie into the diaper pail recently. The smarter they get, the more dangerous they get.
posted by Matt at
10:27 PM
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