Another Small Victory

From the time that Smarty was little, the only way we could get him to calm down enough to go to sleep was to hold him still and distract him with 20 or 30 minutes of the boob tube before bed. (Nope. Singing, stories, and the like wouldn't work at that time) Once he was asleep, we'd move him to his bed.

Eventually Smarty was content to lay on the couch by himself with a pillow and blanket, but he was still too fearful to fall asleep in his bed. We let it go for a while, because honestly, Ben and I often use the TV to shut our brains off too. But last summer Smarty showed a little more maturity with regard to bedtime, so we decided to start putting that time to better use. After family prayer we started singing a song or two before turning on a movie. Gradually we sang more and more until the kids would both fall asleep while we sang.

So singing the kids to sleep became our new routine. It's made such a difference; the atmosphere in our home has changed for the better since then.




July '08. My zonked boys after an early morning bike ride, hence the pajamas. (This picture doesn't actually go with the story, I just think it's cute)




A few nights ago, just like normal, I was giving Smarty all of his bedtime choices, including where he could lay while we sang, and for once, he didn't violently object to the bed choice! I didn't need any more encouragement than that and gently forced him into bed. Sweety and I snuggled up in a camp chair close by.

Smarty got a little nervous, but he did it! He went to sleep in his own bed! Hooray! That's one small step closer to independence, and one giant leap for Smarty.

UPDATE: Out of the last 4 nights, Smarty's gone to sleep in his bed 3 times. But you can bet, I'm pushing as hard as I dare, to make this a permanent change! ;) Knock on wood everyone!