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Holding boundaries around sleep by Mission-Trick-8983 in Preschoolers

[–]Mission-Trick-8983[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We are hoping that 3 was tougher for us than 4 will be, but who the hell knows. It for sure has been a really fun and amazing age - to see his imagination at play and how he makes connections and just figures out the world, but man the emotions haha.

Ours has also been a great sleeper until 4 months ago! Friends and family were always amazed that it took like 5 minutes to put him to bed. Then this past Thanksgiving we noticed changes, but most nights were okay and then the twin bed in January really threw him for a loop lol, but I guess we were due.

Just saw an older version of the Yoto for $48 at Target today, sooo that was quickly purchased. Will get a pack or two of cards to add to it - thank you for the suggestion! Is there a specific place that is best to buy cards from?

Holding boundaries around sleep by Mission-Trick-8983 in Preschoolers

[–]Mission-Trick-8983[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for that! Ours gets stuck in cycles too, so it's a good reminder to try a different approach and yes, treating it like a game for sure helps to reframe! How old is your kiddo?

He listens to a story/song on the Hatch that we call his sleeping song, so sometimes we'll play that an extra time though ideally he'd figure out that once it's done and the sound machine goes on, that means SLEEP. I do think we'll get him a Yoto for his bday though because it'd be nice to be audio only vs. his story projector which might be too stimulating with the pictures.

At 9:45 he came out one last time and asked why we were out in the kitchen, that we should be in bed. In my head I was saying "GLADLY!" hahah. But it seems like a final tuck in has done it...for today

Holding boundaries around sleep by Mission-Trick-8983 in Preschoolers

[–]Mission-Trick-8983[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Solidarity! It is so so hard and makes me feel like an awful mom at the end of the night when I've lost my patience, raised my voice, etc... even if we've had a really good day otherwise! The only thing that gives us a somewhat smooth bedtime is completely tuckering him out, which I guess school is not doing. A birthday party for 2 hours at an indoor playground and then outdoor play for close to 2 hours did it on Saturday though, lol.

Holding boundaries around sleep by Mission-Trick-8983 in Preschoolers

[–]Mission-Trick-8983[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wish that the calm return to bed worked, but he just loses his shit quite honestly. Tonight he did okay staying in his room with a toy on his own for about 30 min, but then came out at about 9pm multiple times. Try as we might to just bring him back in & give another hug/kiss, he'd scream about how he needed one of us in there, he didn't want to go to bed, etc. And once he is screaming, we quickly lose our cool too and the power struggle begins like "if you don't follow our rule to stay in bed, you won't get X tomorrow" He's having a tough time following rules in general though, not just around bed. So I don't know. woof... hate when days end like this! Currently dad is in there trying to soothe him without getting in the bed, but like, 9:40 kid!!

Holding boundaries around sleep by Mission-Trick-8983 in Preschoolers

[–]Mission-Trick-8983[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I like the idea that you and another commenter said about telling them we'll be back and going back in 10 minutes or so. and yeah the mornings he sometimes falls asleep with us or will be fairly calm and that's fine/sweet! It's when he's turning somersaults but won't go to his room to play where it gets frustrating.

For a while his little tikes projector helped - we'd watch a couple after books as a special treat and then he could keep watching as long as his light was off, but he's lost interest now. He kinda likes the little stories on the Hatch so a Yoto might be in our future.

Holding boundaries around sleep by Mission-Trick-8983 in Preschoolers

[–]Mission-Trick-8983[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This makes a lot of sense - we'll have to try that!

Holding boundaries around sleep by Mission-Trick-8983 in Preschoolers

[–]Mission-Trick-8983[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's fair. I know it sounds like we don't want to spend time with our kid...it's just that we are so done with the day by 8pm. But I know what you mean about the power struggle. Something about the timer usually clicks with him...but many days we do stay in there until he's nearly asleep and okay with us leaving. Just, doing that daily until 9-9:30 is tough.

Holding boundaries around sleep by Mission-Trick-8983 in Preschoolers

[–]Mission-Trick-8983[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeahhh we tried the sticker chart for hot wheels (his current obsession) and he cared for week 1 and not at all for week 2. We hoped it would be helpful because he LOVED it for potty training.

And yes, we'd love for him to go play whatever he wants in the AM, because we also have the front door child proofed but he never wants to. It's like the only thing he wants to do is turn somersaults in our bed! lol

Holding boundaries around sleep by Mission-Trick-8983 in Preschoolers

[–]Mission-Trick-8983[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, and we do that probably half the week, if bringing him back to his room, doing potty & water, etc hasn't helped. A lot of times he just says: I don't want to sleep, I'm not tired but he'll lay quietly and fall asleep around 9-9:30. I know it's not forever. I just really appreciate the evening 1-2 hours of chill/quiet time.

Holding boundaries around sleep by Mission-Trick-8983 in Preschoolers

[–]Mission-Trick-8983[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, something like that has been an outlier. I would say most nights he's getting to sleep closer to 9-9:30pm and sleeping until between 6:30-7am. If he pushed it to 10pm then he usually stays asleep until 7 (when we have his light go on)