A good year and a half ago my family and I returned to the States from living in Dominican Republic. We lived in my mom's basement and she had two spacious rooms down there being one for us and one for Joaquin. I remember Joaquin sleeping in his crib briefly after our return but then I remember letting him sleep with us because he was sick or something...well that began a six month long battle! For 6 months, we battled with him to sleep in his room but he was afraid of monsters, crocodiles, the dark or just wanted to cuddle (hard for me to resist the cutest little boy saying "I want to cuddle you!") We tried monster spray, laying with him until he fell asleep, crying it out, a big boy bed, letting him choose his own "Thomas the Train" bedding, enforcing a bedtime routine etc. etc. and finally I confess, we gave up! Joaquin has slept in our bed the last year and a half! He even refused to nap without me laying next to him. Now this wasn't the whole problem. Everyone slept great and we cuddled and we had a nice king size bed. The real problem was he no longer had a bedtime. He would stay up with us and this got to be very late. Granted he slept in in the mornings but can you imagine putting kids to bed at a certain time and then having time to yourself or with your spouse kid free for a couple hours each night? Doesn't that sound nice? Oh wait...that's probably your life since you're not the one writing this confession so I'm happy for you.
But guess what? Ever since we moved Joaquin has been in his own bed! And since we moved into our apartment, his own room! It really is so nice to have a bedtime and kid free time in the evenings...oh and nap time too! We began our trip to Texas staying with family and there he slept in a toddler bed and loved it. Back in MN, his big boy bed was a twin size with this annoying guard rail and I think that was part of the problem. He probably didn't love that big bed all alone. Once we got to our apartment here in Dallas, we bought him a little toddler bed and put it in his room and he loves it! He even says "I'm going to bed" and goes in his room all by himself. What happened?! Little Khaleesi shares a room with Joaquin and they both sleep soundly through the night. I'm so happy.
Please don't let this blog jinx my life!
And for parents battling anything with your little ones, know that everything is a phase. :)
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