Gaelle with her bedtime buddy, Raggedy Ann.
Bedtime has been a work in progress for our family since Peter and Gaelle came home. They are sharing a room which has been a good thing but we have been through a few different stages with them. The first few nights we both stayed in the room with them until they fell asleep and they did sleep... through the whole night... for the first couple of nights.
Then Gaelle would come into our room around midnight and sleep with us. Then Peter joined the fun. So, we would both sleep with them in their bed until they fell asleep and then let them sleep in our bed when they woke up. Both kids were so squirmy and it seemed to take them forever to relax their bodies and fall asleep. Can we say exhausted? We were both so tired.
Then Robin caught a really bad cold. I slept with the kids until they fell asleep but asked the kids to stay in their room because, "Papa needed to rest." Surprisingly, they stayed in their room. Gaelle would crawl into Peter's bed and they were proud that they were helping Papa get better. We were estactic.
Papa got better and they were now sleeping through the night in their own beds. Gaelle no longer joined Peter. But we still each slept with them until they fell asleep.
Last week we announced that we would no longer be sleeping in their beds with them. Instead, we would sleep on the floor until they fell asleep. This did not go over well with Gaelle. Her need for control kicked in and there was a major battle. Not the first bedtime battle. There have been many over the past 4 months.
But after the first night, both kids accepted the new arrangement. Now we both do our bedtime routine of reading, singing, and praying, and then only one of us stays on the floor until they fall asleep. And the wonderful thing is that they fall asleep within 5 minutes. It's perfect! And it is so much easier on us.
It's only been 4 months and yet this is a tangible way that we can see the security and safety the kids feel. I'm actually surprised that we've gotten to this point, however, I can't even begin to imagine how long it will take for Gaelle to ever be able to sleep in a room by herself. But that's ok... tiny steps for now.
2 comments:
You guys are doing great Beth!!! Are you all coming to MI this summer?
I remember how hard it was to let Stewart cry until he fell asleep. But ... it did pay dividends. After a few days, we just had to lay him down and he'd be out. It's that consistency and like you say ... little steps at a time. I always say, raising kids is the most challenging job there is.
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