Operation Sleep All Night in Your Own Bed

We started an intense operation in our house on Sunday night....Operation Sleep All Night in Your Own Bed!

Let me give you a little back ground story first. Most of you who have been reading my blog for the past 2 (almost 3!) years already know that most nights, Luci ends up in our bed. Generally she falls asleep in our bed, we move her to her bed, and then at some point in the night she makes it back to our bed. Neither one of us have really had a problem with it. I don't understand why some parents get so worked up and adamant about their children never sleeping in the middle every now and then...but to each their own. I mean my philosophy for most everything is...they are only little once. I am away from her 10+ hours a day...so the last thing I want to do is get into a battle of bedtime with her. The best advice I was given as a new Mom was "Pick your battles." This was a battle that we never really decided to pick. I love the sweet cuddle time with my little girl.

But now...she is almost 4...she's not a baby anymore... and it is time for her to make the transition to staying in her own bed most nights. (Full disclosure: If Luci will sleep until almost 8:00 on Saturday morning, I am more than happy to have her camp out between us every Friday night.) I wanted to do this now instead of later...because I didn't want her to think that the new baby is why she is getting kicked out. That is not really the reason at all. Honestly, it is because over the last few weeks, I have been kicked in the face multiple times and had numerous jabs, elbows, etc. She is a crazy sleeper, and as she is getting bigger, she is getting even more crazy!

I had a great suggestion from two friends about doing an incentive chart. I was a little leery about it...because most of the time, Luci would rather eat broccoli...while taking a shower...in the dark...while sitting in a dentist chair than sleep without the comfort of her Mommy and Daddy...but I thought I would give it a shot. You know what?! It has worked!

Here are the rules: She starts out in her own bed every night. We turn the lamp on, the iPad (her music) on, and tuck her in. If she wakes up in the night and can't go back to sleep, she is allowed to come lay on a pre-made pallet on our bedroom floor. If she is successful...meaning she doesn't ask or doesn't get in our bed, she gets a sticker on her chart. After the first 5 stickers, she gets a toy of her choice ($10 or less). After 10 stickers, we will take a trip to Chuck E Cheese. Now I know what you are thinking. Those are awfully big prizes for such a short time. Yes, they are. BUT, we knew if we didn't start big, it would never stick. We had to get her used to sleeping in her own bed...and we knew it would take big prizes to do so. What will we do after Chuck E Cheese?...well, we haven't got that far. I will tell you this. After the 10 mark, prizes will become monthly. I am hoping that the big ones in the beginning will do the trick...and that she will be so used to our new routine that it won't take much to continue with the behavior.

So how did it work out? She has gone to bed almost perfect. One or two nights she whined just a bit...but went to sleep pretty quickly. The first night she only made it to 11:30 before she came into our room. She found her pallet and went right to sleep. She did wake up several times after that...but never asked to get in our bed. After the first night she was in her own bed until 4-5:00!! We were so proud of her! She has never asked to get in our bed. She just goes straight for her pallet. One morning she came in our room around 5:45 and we were about to get up so we told her she could crawl in our bed and turn her on her cartoons. She specifically asked if she would still earn her sticker is she watched cartoons in our bed! Poor little girl didn't want to mess anything up!

This is another step that she is taking on her journey of being independent and getting older. I do have to say...sometimes these steps are harder on me than they are on her. Mitch and I have always been adamant about letting her do things in her own time. Now, we know when we should gently and firmly push...but we have waited until we have felt the time was right for most of her transitions. You can read about some of those here in "In Her Own Time."

We are so proud of our big girl. We love her so much!!

Sticker Chart/Big girl fast asleep!

Getting to put her first sticker on her chart!

The pallet!

5 stickers on the chart = a new toy...Doc McStuffins phone!! She is so proud of herself!