Bedtime Wars

When it comes to bedtime, Randy and I have been blessed with children that sleep through the night. With Josh, we can give him a bottle and lay him down and he'll go to sleep on his own (Hooray!). Don't ask me how we got it that way, but for some reason it just worked out. Elizabeth is a different story. She has to have Mommy or Daddy lay down with her until she falls asleep. Some nights it doesn't take up much time and other times it takes forever with a lot of frustration. Well, this last weekend I got fed up. So, this week I have dedicated to getting Elizabeth to go to sleep by herself. I'm two days into the process. Here's what I'm doing.

I've established the following routine for Elizabeth before she goes to bed
- Get ready for bed
- Brush teeth and go to the bathroom
- Read two books
- Tuck in bed

Night 1

I was prepared for a LOT of crying and tantrums but for some reason it really wasn't as bad as I thought. After I tucked her in bed and walked out of the room, she got right out of bed and came out. (I expected this) I would then proceed to pick her up and put her right back in bed. I did this for a LONG time. After about 40 minutes of doing this, she started to cry. I stayed calm and kept it up. Finally after about 1 hour 15 min, she fell asleep!

Night 2

This time she decided to start of with crying. It didn't work. She came out of her room twice, but I didn't need to put her back. All I had to say was "go back to bed" and she would do it. (HOORAAY!!!) It took her 20 min to get to sleep.

So tonight will be night 3. I'm hoping that by now she realizes that there is no point in fighting the battles. Mommy is going to win!