Sticking to Our Guns

I was having a conversation the other day with a friend. She was telling me that on her camping trip that past weekend her 22-month old learned how to climb out of her pack n play for the first time. After trying once and succeeding, she did it repeatedly throughout the night and became unable to settle herself to sleep. A few days after they returned home, her daughter climbed out of her crib once too when aggravated. (They immediately set up
a crib tent to nip this behavior in the bud, which the little girl accepted basically without complaint.)

At different ages and stages our children discover new talents/abilities/skills/self-decided privileges and like to practice these to the chagrin of the parents. It seems to be often unpleasant to guide them back into "correct" behavior or adequate sleep as my experiences relate. We parent may have to endure "crying it out" or protests or tiredly staying consistent to help our children move past these disruptions in their sleep. It is hard to avoid wavering from our decided path and falling into the path of just doing whatever to avoid conflict or crying.

But, I do implore you to be deliberate in the decisions you make about sleep at 1pm when you put your two-year old down for their nap, as well as at 3am when your child wakes up with a variety of requests. If your child begins to try something new, you also may need to try something new and establish new boundaries that fit the situation. If your child starts climbing out of his crib before you feel he is ready for a bed, put on a crib tent on it- even though it may cause your child to protest. If your child gets sick and subsequently gets in the habit of looking to you to soothe them in the middle of the night- allow them the chance to rediscover how to soothe themselves and not look to you. If your child takes hours to fall asleep at night because they have requested you leave a light on in their room, turn it off.

As parents, we need to figure out what is best for our children and be deliberate and intentional about our follow-through. If we decide that sleep is very important to our child's health, brain development, attitude and emotions, and the sanity of our home we need to deliberately strive to get our little ones the sleep they need, even if it means they cry, or whine, or yell no. Stick to your guns.