Crib Prizes

I have admitted several times that I am not very good at establishing good sleeping habits for my kids. My approach is, 'Hey, one day they'll sleep through the night'. Well Matthew has been doing a great job sleeping at night but was getting tired of being in bed with us. He always starts out in his crib at night but around three o'clock in the morning, I would just bring him into bed with us out of pure exhaustion. This worked until he decided it wasn't comfortable anymore. He would kick around, work himself up and then be awake for hours, and even walk on us while we were sleeping. Yeah, not working for any of us! Once I had my cerclage surgery and couldn't pick him up for a few days, Damien had to do the night routine. He was great and really filled in when he was needed! Well, it took one night of it and he was on board to help me get this kiddo in the crib!

We decided to just go cold turkey. The approach? Put him to bed and not let him out of the crib until morning! We took turns going in every time he cried and just stayed with him until he would fall back asleep. We did this all night long and it was tough! In the morning, I hyped up the fact that if he slept in his bed all night- he gets a prize in the morning! I didn't plan ahead but luckily have a bin in the garage full of left over party favors from when Michael and Claire were little. Not sure why I kept all of this stuff but it sure is paying off now. The great news is that Matthew has taken to his new routine! It took a good week for him to not want to get out of his crib- but we are in a good place now! We wake up more rested and Matthew gets these ridiculous prizes that he thinks are the coolest things in the world!