Huge Milestone

You know what's frustrating? Having a little girl figure out how to climb out of her crib. All of a sudden, a new world of independence is opened up for her. No longer can Mom and Dad confine her to her crib. No longer can Mom and Dad expect to put her down and have a quiet evening. Oh, no. She exercises her new-found independence by spending an hour on Day 1 climbing out of her crib everytime her Mom puts her down. Once she finally succumbs to sleep, she decides to try our patience again the following night. 90 minutes after the initial "drop," and about 62 ins-and-outs, her exhaustion takes over. The third night, it only took a couple ins-and-outs, and just a few minutes. She learned, and Mom and Dad didn't give up.

The technique we used has been seen on "Super Nanny" many times, when teaching children to stay in bed. Now...she uses it for kids whose parents SLEEP IN BED WITH THEM (I still don't understand that one), or allow the kids to SLEEP IN BED WITH THE PARENTS (again...not seeing the benefit of that). But still, it worked. For more details, see www.supernanny.com.

Not only did this change the night-time routine, it also changed mornings. Sariah usually awoke around 7:30. Well, once she learned her new skill, she was in our bedroom upwards of 5:45 am. NOT going to happen. Something needs to change.

What is a parent to do? Mom and Dad talked about it and decided that if we are going to have to teach this little girl that bedtime is bedtime, how about doing it once and for all - in a BIG GIRL bed?

We moved a twin bed into her room some time ago, knowing that she would eventually be transferred. James would take over her crib and the two will share a room. But, we didn't want the transfers to take place at the same time for fear of having Sariah think James was kicking her out. Sariah, smart as she is, settled the question of when to move her by letting us know it was time. Yesterday, I talked to Sariah ALL DAY about being a big girl and getting to sleep in her big girl bed. She was filled with glee when it was time for bed last night.

Last night was an improvement. It took her about 45 minutes to fall asleep. However, she only climbed out of her bed maybe 5 or 6 times, as opposed to every 30 seconds. Today for her nap - a glorious one in-and-out, and she was asleep in less than 10 minutes. Here's to a new turnaround, hopefully!!!



NOTE: She has a very special relationship with each of her animals. If one is missing, she will search the house until she finds it. Don't even think about taking them away!