What a crazy last couple weeks we have had in this household.
Let me define crazy:
"Crazy is when a stressed nesting Mom wants to do everything at once with NO exception or else her head will explode".
I am about to tell you a story. A long one.
It is about the
Toughest most challenging part of my Mommy career by far.
It is about a battle between a 2 year old and 2 parents.
Here it is-
A little over 2 weeks ago, Emme decided she just plain didn't want to sleep anymore. She would go to bed at her normal 8pm and start waking up at random times. The first few nights I was putting her right back to sleep but then it kept going on and on. Wanna know where I made THE most horrible mistake?? One 3am morning, I let her come into bed and WATCH CARTOONS while I went back to sleep. Oh my hell. Ever since that morning she woke up like clockwork every chance she got so she could A) come into Mommy's bed and snuggle and B) watch cartoons. She knew I was weak. Hell, I was exhausted. I am not sleeping well at all with this pregnancy now that my dreaded butt nerve (aka Sciatic Nerve) has been keeping me up in pain.
So. it. happened.
She took horrible advantage of me!
For about 1 week I let her run the show (when it came to sleep)
She decided when and where she was going to sleep.
She decided she wanted to go from a solid 12-14 hours sleep a day to 5-9 hours.
She started refusing naps.
She was a cranky cling to Mom every second of the day flat out MONSTER.
I was a hormonal, stressed hot mess.
I was desperate and frantic to find out what the heck happened to my perfect sleeper!
I started reading all my parenting books and read "Happiest toddler on the block".
I did hours of research online and went to "Supernanny" discussion groups.
I've always been a huge fan of the show "Supernanny", so I was set on doing it her way. I've seen it work every show. Kids don't go to bed without a bloody fight then BOOM! magically, a couple nights later, sleeping Angels!
Sold, right?
Well, I tried it. I stood outside of Emmes room for 4 hours picking her up and putting her back in bed. Picking her up and putting her in bed- X's a hundred! Meanwhile, you can't give them any emotion. Not one word was spoken to Emme. That pissed her off royally. I was NOT giving in. I kept humming church hymns in my head and was doing pretty well. Until, about the hundredth time lifting 28 lbs got to me. I felt a very sharp pain in my stomach and realized my belly was extremely tight and wasn't stopping. I had to stop the technique. I am a Mom not just to one child now. Emme won and I was so discouraged to say the least. So I went into her room, gave her a kiss and sat on her bed until she fell asleep. It took her less than a minute to calm down and fall asleep.
Jerk.
I figured out real fast that she was not grasping the concept of the "Supernanny Technique".
I understand consistency is key, but I physically was not able to do it another night.
Plus, I really think she was too young for that technique.
After Emme finally fell asleep at 12 that night, she was up before 6 am the next morning.
I think this was my breaking point. I grabbed her, put her in bed with me and told her to go back to sleep. We both slept in until 10 that morning.
Later that morning I called Eric sobbing not knowing what to do anymore. I DID NOT want a 2 year old back in bed with us. We are about to have a baby in 6-8 weeks and it just isn't realistic to have Emme woken every 3 hours while I nurse a newborn baby. It isn't realistic to have her NOT use her perfect, beautiful room.
We talked to all sorts of Mom's for advice and got tons and tons. I called my Sister to vent. I wept uncontrollable sobs daily (most of them were due to just being exhausted and not knowing what else to do). Bedtime was an absolute panic attack of a chore and I couldn't handle one. more. night.
One piece of advice we went back and forth on is the one we ended up doing!
It has been 4 nights so far. Each night has gotten a little bit better. Emme is slowly giving up earlier and earlier each night.
Wanna know the amazing secret that keeps a kid in her room?
You hold the door shut.
Amazing, right?
She was LIVID the first night.
Angry saying horrible things the 2nd night.
Saying she needed to potty and that she made a mess the 3rd night.
BUT the 4th night?? She lasted 5 min (of just crying I might add) then was out.
I am so excited to see what tonight holds.
Eric stepped up to be mental rod that I needed through this very tough decision.
He did it. He would listen to the God awful things she would say and go in there when she needed to potty and that was it. I sat outside and sobbed on the phone to my Mother in law the first night. The second night I cried in the car in the garage. The third night I did laundry in the laundry room with the door shut. I just could not listen to my baby cry. The fourth night I did a sink load of dishes and before I was done Eric came in the Kitchen with a smile on his face saying Emme was out. "Really?? Only five minutes this time??"
We are winning. We are slowly taking control back.
I never thought it would happen. Let alone happen that fast.
During that time of defiant sleeping, we decided it was the perfect opportunity to take the Binky away (since she wasn't sleeping anyway)
About a week ago, during one of Emme's tantrums about taking a nap, I thought of something. It might just work...
"Emme, do you want to take a nap??'
"No, Mama."
"Okay, so no binky then?"
"No, Mama. No binky."
"Alright, if you don't want your binky should we just throw it away??"
Her eyes lit up
"Yeah, Mama!"
"Okay, let's go throw it away and you won't take a nap then"
She was thrilled by this point. No nap?? Sign her up!
Off she went downstairs, binky in tow, headed for the Kitchen trash.
She threw the damn thing away!
She got very concerned though right after.
"Oh no Mama, it's a mess!"
"It's okay, hunny- You're a big girl now with NO binky!!"
I grabbed the bag out of the trash and had her help me take it to the big trash can outside so she could see for herself it was going bye bye for good.
She was very calm and got what we were doing.
I promised her that since she was a big girl who didn't need a binky anymore that we would go shopping for a new toy to sleep with at night.
She liked that the most.
Daddy came home soon after and off we went to Walmart where we adopted Peppa Pig.
Going to bed that night it was the same ol' fight but I slept with her until she fell asleep. It was a great success!
It is now a week later and she hasn't mentioned it once since she threw it away.
She sleeps with Peppa Pig and carries her around everywhere.
We also started an "Emme good girl chart"
We are on day 5 and so far, it is working so well.
She loves earning her stickers.
Emme putting on her "Nigh Night" sticker. She earns that if she sleeps in her room all by herself.
Emme with pal, Peppa Pig after just waking up.
I am quite the artist, huh?
The top square is "eat your food all gone"
The next square is "help dad with clean up time"
The next square is sadly supposed to be a moon with stars.
The last square is "feed and brush Ace"
Believe it or not, she will finish her dinner not for dessert but for a sticker!
Oh yeah, did I forget to mention we potty trained her on top of all this mess???
I told you the last couple weeks have been crazy.
I am so happy to announce:
Emme hasn't had an accident in 2 weeks! (That's safe to say she is potty trained, right?)
She gave all her diapers to Baby Sissy and loved getting treats when she did her business.
I still can't believe it.
No more binky
No more diapers
*For 6-8 more weeks at least ;)
I am mentally tired just typing this all out. It really was a stressful emotion time for all of us and I am so happy the crazy is slowly coming to an end.
She is still being very clingy to Mom and that is getting exhausting, but I think once she is used to sleeping BACK in her room for a full (at least 12 hours) she'll be back to normal in no time!
I hope.
We have until September to get our toddler back on track and so far it is going very well.
Until baby comes and messes her up again that is ; )
As usual, I will update our adventures and let you know the progress.
It is now naptime... wish me luck!
Let me define crazy:
"Crazy is when a stressed nesting Mom wants to do everything at once with NO exception or else her head will explode".
I am about to tell you a story. A long one.
It is about the
Toughest most challenging part of my Mommy career by far.
It is about a battle between a 2 year old and 2 parents.
Here it is-
A little over 2 weeks ago, Emme decided she just plain didn't want to sleep anymore. She would go to bed at her normal 8pm and start waking up at random times. The first few nights I was putting her right back to sleep but then it kept going on and on. Wanna know where I made THE most horrible mistake?? One 3am morning, I let her come into bed and WATCH CARTOONS while I went back to sleep. Oh my hell. Ever since that morning she woke up like clockwork every chance she got so she could A) come into Mommy's bed and snuggle and B) watch cartoons. She knew I was weak. Hell, I was exhausted. I am not sleeping well at all with this pregnancy now that my dreaded butt nerve (aka Sciatic Nerve) has been keeping me up in pain.
So. it. happened.
She took horrible advantage of me!
For about 1 week I let her run the show (when it came to sleep)
She decided when and where she was going to sleep.
She decided she wanted to go from a solid 12-14 hours sleep a day to 5-9 hours.
She started refusing naps.
She was a cranky cling to Mom every second of the day flat out MONSTER.
I was a hormonal, stressed hot mess.
I was desperate and frantic to find out what the heck happened to my perfect sleeper!
I started reading all my parenting books and read "Happiest toddler on the block".
I did hours of research online and went to "Supernanny" discussion groups.
I've always been a huge fan of the show "Supernanny", so I was set on doing it her way. I've seen it work every show. Kids don't go to bed without a bloody fight then BOOM! magically, a couple nights later, sleeping Angels!
Sold, right?
Well, I tried it. I stood outside of Emmes room for 4 hours picking her up and putting her back in bed. Picking her up and putting her in bed- X's a hundred! Meanwhile, you can't give them any emotion. Not one word was spoken to Emme. That pissed her off royally. I was NOT giving in. I kept humming church hymns in my head and was doing pretty well. Until, about the hundredth time lifting 28 lbs got to me. I felt a very sharp pain in my stomach and realized my belly was extremely tight and wasn't stopping. I had to stop the technique. I am a Mom not just to one child now. Emme won and I was so discouraged to say the least. So I went into her room, gave her a kiss and sat on her bed until she fell asleep. It took her less than a minute to calm down and fall asleep.
Jerk.
I figured out real fast that she was not grasping the concept of the "Supernanny Technique".
I understand consistency is key, but I physically was not able to do it another night.
Plus, I really think she was too young for that technique.
After Emme finally fell asleep at 12 that night, she was up before 6 am the next morning.
I think this was my breaking point. I grabbed her, put her in bed with me and told her to go back to sleep. We both slept in until 10 that morning.
Later that morning I called Eric sobbing not knowing what to do anymore. I DID NOT want a 2 year old back in bed with us. We are about to have a baby in 6-8 weeks and it just isn't realistic to have Emme woken every 3 hours while I nurse a newborn baby. It isn't realistic to have her NOT use her perfect, beautiful room.
We talked to all sorts of Mom's for advice and got tons and tons. I called my Sister to vent. I wept uncontrollable sobs daily (most of them were due to just being exhausted and not knowing what else to do). Bedtime was an absolute panic attack of a chore and I couldn't handle one. more. night.
One piece of advice we went back and forth on is the one we ended up doing!
It has been 4 nights so far. Each night has gotten a little bit better. Emme is slowly giving up earlier and earlier each night.
Wanna know the amazing secret that keeps a kid in her room?
You hold the door shut.
Amazing, right?
She was LIVID the first night.
Angry saying horrible things the 2nd night.
Saying she needed to potty and that she made a mess the 3rd night.
BUT the 4th night?? She lasted 5 min (of just crying I might add) then was out.
I am so excited to see what tonight holds.
Eric stepped up to be mental rod that I needed through this very tough decision.
He did it. He would listen to the God awful things she would say and go in there when she needed to potty and that was it. I sat outside and sobbed on the phone to my Mother in law the first night. The second night I cried in the car in the garage. The third night I did laundry in the laundry room with the door shut. I just could not listen to my baby cry. The fourth night I did a sink load of dishes and before I was done Eric came in the Kitchen with a smile on his face saying Emme was out. "Really?? Only five minutes this time??"
We are winning. We are slowly taking control back.
I never thought it would happen. Let alone happen that fast.
During that time of defiant sleeping, we decided it was the perfect opportunity to take the Binky away (since she wasn't sleeping anyway)
About a week ago, during one of Emme's tantrums about taking a nap, I thought of something. It might just work...
"Emme, do you want to take a nap??'
"No, Mama."
"Okay, so no binky then?"
"No, Mama. No binky."
"Alright, if you don't want your binky should we just throw it away??"
Her eyes lit up
"Yeah, Mama!"
"Okay, let's go throw it away and you won't take a nap then"
She was thrilled by this point. No nap?? Sign her up!
Off she went downstairs, binky in tow, headed for the Kitchen trash.
She threw the damn thing away!
She got very concerned though right after.
"Oh no Mama, it's a mess!"
"It's okay, hunny- You're a big girl now with NO binky!!"
I grabbed the bag out of the trash and had her help me take it to the big trash can outside so she could see for herself it was going bye bye for good.
She was very calm and got what we were doing.
I promised her that since she was a big girl who didn't need a binky anymore that we would go shopping for a new toy to sleep with at night.
She liked that the most.
Daddy came home soon after and off we went to Walmart where we adopted Peppa Pig.
Going to bed that night it was the same ol' fight but I slept with her until she fell asleep. It was a great success!
It is now a week later and she hasn't mentioned it once since she threw it away.
She sleeps with Peppa Pig and carries her around everywhere.
We also started an "Emme good girl chart"
We are on day 5 and so far, it is working so well.
She loves earning her stickers.
Emme putting on her "Nigh Night" sticker. She earns that if she sleeps in her room all by herself.
Emme with pal, Peppa Pig after just waking up.
I am quite the artist, huh?The top square is "eat your food all gone"
The next square is "help dad with clean up time"
The next square is sadly supposed to be a moon with stars.
The last square is "feed and brush Ace"
Believe it or not, she will finish her dinner not for dessert but for a sticker!
Oh yeah, did I forget to mention we potty trained her on top of all this mess???
I told you the last couple weeks have been crazy.
I am so happy to announce:
Emme hasn't had an accident in 2 weeks! (That's safe to say she is potty trained, right?)She gave all her diapers to Baby Sissy and loved getting treats when she did her business.
I still can't believe it.
No more binky
No more diapers
*For 6-8 more weeks at least ;)
I am mentally tired just typing this all out. It really was a stressful emotion time for all of us and I am so happy the crazy is slowly coming to an end.
She is still being very clingy to Mom and that is getting exhausting, but I think once she is used to sleeping BACK in her room for a full (at least 12 hours) she'll be back to normal in no time!
I hope.
We have until September to get our toddler back on track and so far it is going very well.
Until baby comes and messes her up again that is ; )
As usual, I will update our adventures and let you know the progress.
It is now naptime... wish me luck!
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