Then...all of a sudden...something changed.
Almost 2 weeks ago, it began.
The monkey officially decided he didn't need such solitary confinement & one Thursday evening 'round 9:30, climbed out of his crib & marched down the hall to the living room & proceeded to play with his toys. Puzzled at this fluke, we put him back in his crib & went back to our evening.
He joined us 2 minutes later by entertaining us at the piano. At this point, we were not so entertained. Especially around 11pm.
As the days progressed, the climbing/escaping continued. We ended up locking his door.
He figured out how to unlock it.
Now, it wasn't just "Silly Spencer wanting to Play." It became the "Torrential 2 year-old unleashing himself in Tantrum Fury," shaking the door whilst screaming "MOMMY, ROCKING CHAIR" repeatedly. He is not one for throwing temper tantrums. I think he has been saving them up so he would have enough material for these evening performances.
We were not prepared for such behavior. I googled SuperNanny tactics & requested books at the library & exhausted, finally, gave in.
Sunday, Matt converted his crib to a "Big Boy Bed."
The baby gate has now been moved from it's previous station guarding trash cans to it's new home in Spencer's doorway.
Here we have Spencer at naptime, Day 1 in the big boy bed (1 hour after naptime commenced. Ripped up book behind door; not shown.)
Next is today's naptime, Day 2. Slight destruction, but about a foot closer to the actual entryway to the bed. We have progress. Hopefully.
Nighttimes are...not quite gelling yet. When we let him alone, he doesn't seem to get tired of screaming until 11pm, with a few wake-ups at 2, 4 and/or 5am. Our house is pretty small, and the tile floor throughout the hallway (which seemed like a good thing at the time) sure provides more than adequate acoustics, making it a little difficult to accomplish anything. And yet, he still wakes up for the day at the same time! What gives? How does a child all of a sudden decide that he needs less sleep than his parents? I'm seeing limited yet unconsistent success plopping him back in the bed & slowly in stages making my way out the door, trying not to dislocate a hip while awkwardly hurdling the gate in slow motion.If you've been there, you're probably laughing at me. But, in between chuckles & rolls of the eyes, do ya' have some insider tips on what worked for you? I'm starting to acquire a zombie-like look that's not very becoming.
8 comments:
I wish I could give you a miracle cure. How old is he? He may be ready to only have short naps or give up naps completely (that is not an easy transition, for either of you!) Also, this could be a phase...
Of course, if you really want to keep him confined you could always try a crib tent...
Oh what a hard phase. Nathan went through this at that age -- he was the worst of the three. He absolutely refused to sleep in his bed. We had to put a gate on his door, and he would fall asleep on the floor (eventually) each night right next to the gate with his nose touching it.
Hang in there while he is going through this tough time!
Ugh- Lately I've been thinking about this nightmare soon to come- your story has just confirmed that it will indeed be a nightmare. Although I was laughing the whole time while reading this. I think Spencer and Boedy are a lot alike- so your tales give me a good idea of what's to come. The whole screaming thing until 11pm- yep, sounds like something Boedy would do. Stay tune for my desperate blog post in the future. Oh, and no offense to the Chrisnallynkids commenter but I don't think any kids is ready to drop naps at 2...they may act like it because they really don't want to nap, but keep making them take one because they need it! My theory is that 3- 3 1/2 is maybe when there naps turn into just quite time. Besides, mothers still need sanity time with a 2 year old! Boedy is transitioning into a little later in the day naps rahter than right after lunch and I've noticed that he sleeps longer naps when I put him down about 45 minutes to and hour later than I used to. Well, I maybe should become a contributing author of your blog since my comment has turned into the length of a post....oops!
One more thing- remember- "this time will pass, it's just a phase" :) I find myself saying this quite often these days
The whole time we were in California, Natalie slept on the floor right in front of the gate to her room. I think the Supernanny would treat it like timeout--if he gets out of his bed, just put him back in it, over and over and over and over again.
Ahhh. Welcome to Toddler Town. Population: Us
It's a nice place to visit but I'm ready to hop back on the train and high tail it to Sleepyville.
I wish I knew what to tell you. Maybe naps will have to be a thing of the past. It's a tough call. We'll run him ragged this summer so he's so darn tired he'll just crash until the morning.
You are too funny! Oh, the joys of parenthood.
I feel for you. Especially the destruction of the books. Jared gave up naps completely at 2 1/2. Don't give up on the big boy bed yet. It took us a few weeks until he finally go the hang of it. I have found an after dinner trip to the park or pool will tire him out pretty quickly Good luck!
Post a Comment