But ahhh...I am in such a funk.
Tess is driving me a little bit nuts. The twos are getting terrible. Terrible. She will not go to bed. Seriously, refuses to go to sleep without major intervention. Every night we go through the same song and dance:
8:15-Pajamas, teeth, vitamins, etc...
8:30-Stories
8:45-Good night Tess, Good night Mommy, (kiss, kiss, hug, hug)
8:47-(teeheehee!) MOMMY! I'M AWAKE!
Tess, go to bed.
NO! (Tears around the house until I can catch her)
8:55-Good night Tess, Good night Mommy, (kiss, kiss, hug, hug)
8:56-(teeheehee!) MOMMY! I'M AWAKE!
And we're off.
My problems are many. If I stay in the room with her she will tell me to leave so she can go to sleep. Once I leave, she gets out of bed and comes running out. If I say, fine, you are staying out here until you get tired and fall asleep she becomes indignant and proclaims that she NEEDS to go in her big girl bed. At which point she will stay in it for .05 seconds before running out again. And on...and on.
Generally, with a target bedtime of 8:30, she is asleep by 10:30 or so.
Nothing works.
I have a gate so I can trap her in there without having to keep the door shut. She figured out how to open it last week. I can't leave the door closed because God knows what she will get into if left to her own devices. I have yelled and screamed, which she thinks is just the height of comedy. There is nothing worse than being supremely tired and pissed off and having your two year old laugh at you like you are juggling live chickens or something.
Ahhh...every blessed night.
My other problem has only occured once, but left enough of an imprint to make me fearful of a repeat performance. One day, after being especially demonic, Tess came toddling up and said, with a tearful kind of voice, "Mommy...pick me up please." Certain that my angel was in need of my love I picked her up and gave her a warm embrace...at which point she sank her sharp little baby chompers right into the soft flesh of my neck. She left a welt that hung around for two days and I was so surprised that I dropped her right to the floor. She thought this was hysterical.
She talks like a surly teenager...we were in Wegmans and I asked her to please put her coat on and she said, "Not now Mommy! ONE SECOND! I'm on the phone!"
Help me...please...no one believes me because she just looks so sweet...
But just look at those teeth...
15 comments:
I found your blog through Kelly in NC, NaeNae in NC, and Jacqueline's Boys. I am friends with them. Not that I am a sleep expert, but I have read MANY a sleep book to get my kids where they are. It kinda sounds like Tess's bedtime is too late. She is in the wired state by then and it's a battle. At this point it will probably be a battle no matter what time, but it may take less time to teach her about bedtime if you try it earlier.
Also, I think Supernanny's tactics are good as far as the getting out of bed thing. Have you ever watched that show? I love it. I am a reality TV junkie. :)
I hope this helps. I am not trying to tell you what to do at all, but you DID ask for help. :)
You're scaring me Brooke! I'm NEVER putting Ella in a big girl bed...she needs to stay in the crib so she will sleep! LOL! I cannot believe she bit you like that....she's smarter than shit I tell ya! I'm so not looking forward to the terrible twos....I'm going to be asking you for help next year :o)
I feel your pain. We've been going through the same thing (minus the running around the house bit since we use the gate at the door of his room. )It sucks, but Sam's always been a shitty sleeper so it's no surprise when he stops going to sleep AGAIN.
I meant to post using my nursing your kids url. oops.
I feel your pain! I am going through the same thing at bed time with Ella! So far, the gate is working for me. She somehow (by the grace of God), has not figured out how to climb over! You see, she is a master at climbing. Once she figures that out, I'm not sure what I will do!
Angelle - I'm curious about Supernanny's tactics...Please share more!
The bedtime thing gets better around, oh 32 months. And I said BETTER, not perfect. Perfect, well, don't plan on that until she's a teen. Then you won't be able to get her ass out of bed.
But she is one cute little babe...sharp incisors and all!
NaeNae, basically every time the kid gets out of bed, you put them back in. The first time they get up, you say, "Bedtime, darling" (or whatever you say at bedtime) and give a kiss and cuddle. The second time, you say "Bedtime" with no expression or cuddling. The third time and every time thereafter, you say nothing. You do not argue, reason, cuddle, give in to requests, nothing. You just quietly and calmly put them back in bed and walk out.
Now I have seen it on the show last up to like 2 hours. But it is only that long for a few nights and eventually the child gets the picture that there will be no nonsense. You are serious about bedtime.
I do not claim to KNOW this works because I have never had to do it. But she uses the same method to get a kid to stay in time out. I have used that, and it did work. We only played the back in time out game once, and it's not a problem anymore.
i use the super nanny method a lot. sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. Who knows what is going on in their little heads. I am convinced that sleep habits have to be relearned time and time again.
Have you tried a tension gate that can't be opened to walk through. i realize it is easier for me than most to step over a gate, but when it was not broken, it worked well.
Also, have you tried bribing her?
as if on cue, it took us two hours to get peanut to bed last night. But we did make it super hot in her room on accident. then since the fan and light in her room is on the same frequencey as the fan and light in our room, we accidently turned the light on in her room. I think she dozed a little in that time, but nothing compared to how early she needed to go to bed.
peanut goes to bed at 7, so two hours isn't cutting into our bedtime.
I am definitely going to shoot for an earlier bedtime, I agree that she is usually pretty keyed up by the time we start putting her down. She generally goes down a little later because my husband gets home later and she likes to see him before bed but I think we are just going to have to nix that and put her down earlier so she is not such a little lunatic, lol. If it works for SuperNanny I'll give it a shot! :)
Thanks for the tips!!!
This cannot be my angelic, sweet granddaughter you are writing about. Mom
Don't worry shell start losing teeth in three or four years.
It gets worse! My five year old acts and talks like she is 15!
Try an earlier bedtime or close her bedroom door and get a baby monitor with a screen so you can watch her.
You had me laughing on this post. I was not expecting Tess to become a vampire. What a sprite that one is! Good luck with the bed time. Grayson is almost two and is still in a crib. I am not looking forward to when he starts trying to climb out. Yikes!
My my, look at those teeth!!! You should be afraid, very afraid!
My son has never bitten me, but I wouldn't put it past him. He does, on the other hand, think it hilarious when he sees me get hurt. Yeah, funny... but if he trips or something and falls and I even smile he gets SO MAD! Kids!
Oh and mommy-eating demon child or not, she BEAUTIFUL!
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