Bedtime Routine

For the past several months at bedtime, we have been outside Andrew's room in the hallway or our room waiting for him to fall asleep (anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour--of course with exceptions). And almost every night never fail, he would come out a few times for varying reasons such as wanting a hug or kiss, to cuddle, or for us to tuck him in under the covers. We had been wanting to change this ritual for a good while now, but it's been hard because we didn't want him to cry and throw up. And we postponed it as well until he got acclimated to school.

Over the last week or so, I began telling him that soon it would be time for him to put himself night night and that Mommy or Daddy would be downstairs and not upstairs with him. I told him he was a big boy now and didn't need us upstairs. Sometimes, he would reply "Mama upstairs?" I would then tell him that I or Daddy would be upstairs tonight, but soon, this would happen. One time, I even asked him how many days until he started putting himself night night and he would reply "two days" (as if he really meant that!)

Last night when we were at Target, Andrew picked out a Mega Bloks Henry and Spencer and asked for me to "buy that". I said we could get it, but he would have to put himself night night to which he agreed.

So last night, we went through our normal bedtime routine of bath and books. And then after prayers, I told him if he wanted Henry or Spencer, he would have to put himself to bed. He didn't refute so we thought we would give it a go. I told him that we would be downstairs, but that he didn't need to get out of bed or leave the room. I also told him that he needed to be quiet and wasn't allowed to play around. We gave him our goodnight hugs and kisses. I told him we would leave the gate open if he didn't try to come downstairs.

Daddy and I walked down the stairs. Daddy turned on the TV and watched the election results (with the volume almost on mute) while I read some emails and surfed the internet. Andrew said "Mama" twice---the first time, I said we were downstairs and it was going to be okay and the second time, I didn't respond.

As we watched him in the monitor, I saw him tossing and turning around in his bed and moving his blankets and pillows all over. There were a few times when he was quiet and still and I thought he had fallen asleep. But then, he would make some more noise and then settle back down. After about forty-five minutes (not any longer than he would fallen asleep with one of us upstairs), he finally sacked out.

I was proud of the little guy. He definitely earned his prize. And so, here is he with Henry this morning.