January 12, 2010

Supernanny, Come Visit Me!

I had just turned off my light and fallen asleep when I was awakened by a thump on my bed. I put my hand down to see if it was the dog, the cat, or a child. Sure enough... I felt a human head. With soft, straight hair.

Camryn.

This was the third night in a row she had gotten up as soon as my light had gone off. And, just like the other two nights, when I carried her back to her room and put her in bed, she did a half whine, half cry type thing, saying she didn't want to go to sleep or stay in her room.

I told her it was bedtime, it was late and everyone else was sleeping, and that she needed to try to fall back asleep. I told her not to get up again unless she had to pee.

I go back in my room, half-asleep, and she starts to cry. Whine. Yell. Joe woke up. We had a very sluggish conversation about what we should do.

"I don't know how to handle this situation. It's not a good idea to let her get in our bed. It's not a good idea to get in her bed with her. It's not a good idea to ignore her cries either."

"Mhhhmmm."

"You know, Supernanny would just keep putting her back in bed. That's what we need to do."

"Yeahmmmm."

Meanwhile, Camryn is still whining and crying.

"Joe, You should go in there and tell her to go to sleep."

*Grumble*Yawn*

Joe got up, went in to their room for 30 seconds, and when he came out there was silence.

He got back in bed, and we both laid down and turned the light off.

Not so bad, I told myself. We can deal with whatever phase she is going through, and it won't last long if we handle it this way every time.

I fall asleep.

Joe woke me up this morning around 7am when he got up to go to work, to ask me why this was next to me:


I don't know when she got in our bed, or how she got in our bed without waking us up, but she did.

While I LOVE cuddling with my little girls and it is a wonderful feeling to have them asleep next to me, I do not want to start a habit of her sleeping in our bed every night, because that is so hard to break. A queen size bed is not big enough for two tall adults and a child.

You know those parents who you are really jealous of because their kids have slept through the night without hardly a fuss between the hours of 8pm and 8am every night since they were 7 weeks old?

That was us.

Advice?

16 comments:

Foursons said...

Oh gosh, I feel your pain! I am a mom who needs her sleep and Lord help anyone who interrupts it because I will go psycho on them.

Have you tried bribing her? Seriously- I'm all about the bribes in my house.

Thanks for stopping by my blog AND commenting! You're welcome back anytime to feed me more validation! :D

Alicia said...

I would just keep putting her back in there and maybe rewarding her when she does stay in the bed all night.

Kristine said...

Aww, that's the cutest picture ever. I feel your pain though. We just made it through day 2 of Maddie sleeping in Rylee's room. She wakes up 15 times a night crying for me. I feel bad b/c she wakes Ry sometimes too. She's soooo tired today. But I'm determined to do this now and not wait until the baby is here, lol!

Holly said...

Oh goodness, I have no advice. Kyndra still sleeps in her crib so she can't escape. lol

Brandi said...

Well, if the Supernanny stops at your house, send her on to mine when your done with her!
LOL!

Lil' Bub is 5 and WILL NOT go to sleep unless I lay with him in his bed. Fortunately he falls asleep in like 5 min. However, 3 or 4 nights out of the week, I wake up and find him next to me in my bed and I don't know how he got there.

We're trying a 'sticker chart' to see if I can get him to go to sleep by himself (earns a toy when he fills up the chart with enough stickers). We'll see...

Tiffany Lockette said...

I hear ya, we are going through something similar with Zoe except she isn't crawling into our bed yet. I will be glad to see the advice you get, maybe it can help us with our situation. Bryan is dead set against letting Zoe sleep in our bed. This past month when she has been waking up several times a night, I tried twice to bring her to bed with us (I was just so tired) but he wouldn't have it. You are definitely right though, it is not a good idea to let them sleep with you because it is so hard to break the habit. I wish you tons of luck.

Monica said...

LOL. I just watched the videos in your last post. Maybe Summer is scaring her with the monster stories.

The videos were adorable btw!

Susie said...

Try letting her lay with Summer. After awhile she should want her own space and get back in her bed.I agree it isn't good to let her keep coming into your bed.Good Luck.

AUDREY {LIL' BOOGER BLOG} said...

I love your posts! I say do what Supernanny does....Funny how you blog about it when I was just talking about her an hour ago!

Missie said...

I think all toddlers go thru the same phase. Stick to your guns, keep taking her back to her room. I wish you lots of luck!

EmilytheCreative said...

Duct tape her? Kidding, kidding..

If you don't want her in the bed just keep putting her back in her's. She will get it, but you will lose sleep in the process. Talk about it during the day. Say things like, Camryn, you are getting to be such a big girl and big girls sleep in their own bed. You can keep getting in the bed with mommy and daddy. Hopefully she will soon grasp it. Also, is there something that could be scaring her to where she wants to be near you? Hope y'all get some rest soon.

JC said...

Summer has been the same way lately. She tries to get in our bed usually between 4:00a.m. and 6:00 a.m. This morning I told her no at 4:00 because my alarm for the gym was going off at 4:45. When I got back from the gym at 6:30 and crawled back into bed, she was there. :) I don't know what is up, but she did tell me she had a night mare the other day. Apparently her Daddy gave her a swirlie in it. LOL

Kaileigh said...

Well, I certainly don't have any advice for you, since I'm not a parent yet... I will definitely agree with you that it is a very hard habit to break once it is formed, because I was one of those kids. My mom had the same problem with both my brother and I when we were younger, though it was after our parents got divorced.

I think you are right, SuperNanny (who I sometimes watch) would say to keep putting her back in her bed...

jennohara said...

I'm no help at all, because I sleep with BOTH my girls, and my husband! :)
I wouldn't have it any other way.

Bridgett said...

I think just putting her back in her bed every night, no ands, ifs, or buts about it is the way to go. And during the day, encourage her and brag about how big Summer is for sleeping in her bed all night by herself.

That kind of thing.

Also, perhaps offer a reward. I'm not super keen on bribes, but since my sticker charts have been working so well, maybe if she promises to stay in her bed all night for a week, she gets a special surprise...or something like that.

Good luck!

Tiffany said...

Too funny that she snuck in there and you didn't even know. Keely has done that to me too, but I don't think she came in until really early in the morning like 3am or later. But I'd wake up and she'd be sound asleep and I'd have no idea how long she'd been there or when she came in. LOL. She usually doesn't come in in the middle of the night, but often in the morning right as the sun is coming up(freakin' early bird). I don't mind her coming in there then, b/c it helps me try to drag myself out of bed. Sometimes we lay around watching cartoons until Brynleigh wakes up too. Mine have always been great sleepers too, but every once in a while she'll still sneak in our room. I just keep doing the taking her back to bed thing, until she stays put. But like I said, some night she does sneak in and I don't even realize b/c I'm so sound asleep...makes me wonder if I'd hear a burgular...LOL

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