The Nighttime Struggle

CootieBoy has been sleeping in our bed for most of the past several months since we moved to SC. We think it’s a mix of issues – the move from NoNJ to SC, the move from the apartment to the house, going from a shared room to a room of his own, going from the crib to the toddler bed. ALL those things took place when we left Bloomfield, NJ and came to Fort Mill, SC. That’s a lot for a little boy to handle all at once. And we knew that, so we gave him some slack when he didn’t want to sleep in his room, and allowed him to sleep with us when he wanted to. Well, it has now become a near nightly thing, which isn’t good.

A couple weeks ago we started letting him begin the night in our bed since he goes to bed so much earlier than we do. Then when Denis and I came upstairs for the night I’d pick him up, place him in his bed in his room, and we’d go to sleep. Half the time he’d wake up a few hours later and come into our room. So that didn’t work so well.

Last night we decided it was time to bring this chapter to an end, so we put him to bed in his room at his bedtime. He was NOT happy about it. But after about an hour he finally passed out in his bed. We put the gate up at his door in an effort to keep him from coming into our room. At 2 a.m. he woke up and began crying at the doorway. We attempted to sooth him and get him back into his bed, but whenever Denis or I would leave he’d begin crying again. Denis opted to stay with him, and stayed for about half an hour until CootieBoy passed out. But thirty minutes later he was up again. We had decided that we would let him cry it out and not get up. Unfortunately, that came to an end when CootieBoy climbed over the gate and ran into our room. Yep, he scaled the wall – first time ever. I escorted him back to his room again, and for the next HOUR AND A HALF it was a battle of wills – him wanting out of his room, me refusing to budge on the matter. Finally, at 4:15 a.m. he resigned himself to being in his own room and passed out. And so did I.

So imagine my surprise this morning when I woke up at 8 a.m. (I think that’s what time it was) and found COOTIEBOY IN OUR BED! I have absolutely NO recollection of him even coming in, or of him crying. All I can think is that he woke up, left his room (I did not put the gate back up because I didn’t want him climbing it again) and simply walked into our room and climbed in bed. And in my exhaustion I didn’t even notice. And nor did Denis.

So he won the battle after all.

But tonight I’m more determined than ever. The war is not over!