What does “bedtime” look like for you?
Here’s what it looks like for me.
I get Jonah ready for bed. We shoot for 9pm…
Typically I put him in his bed. He drinks out of his sippy cup… and then puts it down his slide (attached to his bed). He then gets up, goes down his slide and wanders his room, playing with whatever toy he can find to ‘unwind.’
There were times when I would force him to stay in his bed, and it has never ended well for either of us.
We have compromised on “staying in his room.”
He does what he needs to do to fall asleep. It’s not always in his bed. Sometimes it’s on the floor. Sometimes it’s on top of me.
I have learned that wherever it is, I just let him be, until he is fast asleep, and then I will put him back in his bed.
Last night, I laid on the floor in his room, in front of the door. He quietly played with a few rediscovered toys.
It was some time after 10pm when he went to sleep.
I don’t remember exactly when. I fell asleep on the floor.
I woke up around 1:30am with a severe crick in my back. Jonah was fast asleep on top of me. I put him in his bed and went into my bedroom.
Some nights, Jonny will fall asleep in my spot. Mama will be reading him a bedtime story in our room and he will fall asleep. Then, too tired to move him, she will fall asleep as well.
When that happens, I don’t move him to his room. I let him sleep. I will go down to the couch.
Inevitably Jonah will wake up in the middle of the night (9 out of 10 times) and he will come into our room and climb into bed with us around 3 or 4am.
He rolls and kicks and hits while he tries to just situate himself. If Jonny is already in our bed, nobody will stay asleep. Jonny will wake up. Jonah will wake up. Mommy will wake up. Daddy will pretend to be still asleep (downstairs). š¤«šš
If Jonah doesn’t climb into bed with Mama, he will come looking for me downstairs on the couch, climb on top of me, and then kick me for an hour.
Then, he will get me up out of “bed” (VERBALLY, saying “Daddy, get up?”) which of course, I will honor, and then he will request that I lay on the floor again. Downstairs.
He then lays on top of me again and kicks me until he either falls asleep, or morning comes…
Thanks to Cat on a trampoline for sharing.