Bare Trap
Abbie is getting harder to put down at night. She’s never been easy to put down. Unlike the boys who are usually happy to nap as long as they’ve got their cow blanket and a sweet forbidden pacifier, Abbie has always complained loudly whenever she was supposed to sleep. She has no comfort items to help her sleep; she only has sanity items that keep her from screaming hysterically. Making her sleep has always been a leave the room, turn off the monitor, and check back in a few minutes process. The difference is now she has the mobility to destroy things when the light goes out.
I had a feeling last night would be difficult when she took an extra long nap that afternoon. She first showed me her reluctance to sleep by refusing to finish her bedtime routine. We always put her books away before turning off the lights. Sometimes she goes right to work at my command picking up books; sometimes she reads one more book while I repeatedly pester her to put her books away. Last night she ran for the door when I told her to put books away. After nagging her a few times to come back, I gave up and put the books away myself. I used the boys’ hands to put the books away so hopefully they’ll catch the importance of cleaning up without realizing that if they ignore daddy long enough he’ll do the chore himself.
Ellie was in the room and helped me put everyone in the appropriate bed. We then had to remove everything that Abbie could possibly play with. The laundry hamper had to go in the hallway lest she strew dirty clothes across the floor, mixing them with the relatively clean clothes she keeps permanently strewn across the floor. The diaper pail went in the hallway to prevent her from treating her stuffed animals like dirty diapers. The wipe warmer goes out of her reach because she knows too many creative things to do with wet wipes.
With the room relatively toddler-proof, Ellie left and I sang her goodnight song. Instead of sitting in my lap, she stood by the door like the dog does when she wants out, only more insistent. After the song, I carried her to bed, gave her a goodnight kiss, and walked to the door. I then had to return her to bed and scramble out the door because she’s quick enough to roll out of bed and out the door as I’m leaving.
The screaming started almost immediately. I expected some hesitance to sleep, and was ready to let her scream for a while. I know that the worst thing you can do when a toddler throws a fit at bedtime is to constantly check on her; that teaches her that whenever she wants our attention she just needs to throw a fit.
Instead Abbie has learned that the best way to grab our attention is to remove her diaper. Ellie checked on her after a few minutes and found the diaper intact and all necessary sanity items in her bed. She scrambled out the door before Abbie could catch her, and the screaming continued.
I checked on her after a few more minutes of hysterical screaming, and this time found her naked from the waist down. I reattached her diaper, slipped her pants back over her legs, and calmed her down from hysteria. Then I scrambled back out the door hoping someone would finally fall asleep, but the screaming resumed.
A couple minutes later Ellie was convinced something was wrong. I told her she’s fine. She’s not hurt, and all necessary sanity items are in her bed. She has her burp clothes, her blanket, her stuffed dog, her other blanket, and even her stuffed cat. Ellie still left to check on her, and a couple minutes later walked out of a quiet room. Ellie discovered the stuffed bear that Abbie usually ignores was trapped under the chair. It was wet like she’d been crying on it, trying to console it until help arrived. Ellie rescued the bear, gave it to Abbie, and everyone was happy.
Several minutes later she fell asleep with no more complaints. The next morning her room was intact. Everything was where we left it the night before. The books were on the shelf. The clean clothes were on the floor. The diaper was on the child.
I had a feeling last night would be difficult when she took an extra long nap that afternoon. She first showed me her reluctance to sleep by refusing to finish her bedtime routine. We always put her books away before turning off the lights. Sometimes she goes right to work at my command picking up books; sometimes she reads one more book while I repeatedly pester her to put her books away. Last night she ran for the door when I told her to put books away. After nagging her a few times to come back, I gave up and put the books away myself. I used the boys’ hands to put the books away so hopefully they’ll catch the importance of cleaning up without realizing that if they ignore daddy long enough he’ll do the chore himself.
Ellie was in the room and helped me put everyone in the appropriate bed. We then had to remove everything that Abbie could possibly play with. The laundry hamper had to go in the hallway lest she strew dirty clothes across the floor, mixing them with the relatively clean clothes she keeps permanently strewn across the floor. The diaper pail went in the hallway to prevent her from treating her stuffed animals like dirty diapers. The wipe warmer goes out of her reach because she knows too many creative things to do with wet wipes.
With the room relatively toddler-proof, Ellie left and I sang her goodnight song. Instead of sitting in my lap, she stood by the door like the dog does when she wants out, only more insistent. After the song, I carried her to bed, gave her a goodnight kiss, and walked to the door. I then had to return her to bed and scramble out the door because she’s quick enough to roll out of bed and out the door as I’m leaving.
The screaming started almost immediately. I expected some hesitance to sleep, and was ready to let her scream for a while. I know that the worst thing you can do when a toddler throws a fit at bedtime is to constantly check on her; that teaches her that whenever she wants our attention she just needs to throw a fit.
Instead Abbie has learned that the best way to grab our attention is to remove her diaper. Ellie checked on her after a few minutes and found the diaper intact and all necessary sanity items in her bed. She scrambled out the door before Abbie could catch her, and the screaming continued.
I checked on her after a few more minutes of hysterical screaming, and this time found her naked from the waist down. I reattached her diaper, slipped her pants back over her legs, and calmed her down from hysteria. Then I scrambled back out the door hoping someone would finally fall asleep, but the screaming resumed.
A couple minutes later Ellie was convinced something was wrong. I told her she’s fine. She’s not hurt, and all necessary sanity items are in her bed. She has her burp clothes, her blanket, her stuffed dog, her other blanket, and even her stuffed cat. Ellie still left to check on her, and a couple minutes later walked out of a quiet room. Ellie discovered the stuffed bear that Abbie usually ignores was trapped under the chair. It was wet like she’d been crying on it, trying to console it until help arrived. Ellie rescued the bear, gave it to Abbie, and everyone was happy.
Several minutes later she fell asleep with no more complaints. The next morning her room was intact. Everything was where we left it the night before. The books were on the shelf. The clean clothes were on the floor. The diaper was on the child.
posted by Matt at
10:59 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home