Superstation was not going down for his nap. Instead, he and Mooselet were making a bit of noise. I went back to their room to ask them to quiet down, and looked through the door just in time to see Superstation throw his bear across the room from his crib to Mooselet's bed (a pretty good throw, actually). Note -- this bear is basically his security blanket; he pretty much doesn't sleep without it.
Anyway, I thought this might be a decent chance to break him from the habit a little. So I told him that he didn't get the bear back, and I took it and left the room (reminding Mooselet to be quiet as well). After about 7-8 minutes of crying (Superstation, not me), I went back in and told him he could have the bear, but he had to keep it in the crib. He gave me his "yes dance," and I gave him the bear. Then I went out to fix my lunch.
Mooselet came out a couple minutes later to tell me that Superstation had thrown his bear out of the crib again (it was now under Mooselet's bed). I came in, and Superstation was standing at the edge of the crib, pointing to the bear (asking me to retrieve it for him). I said "I told you that if you threw the bear out again you wouldn't get it back." And again, I left the room with the bear.
Again, he cried for five minutes or so, but then he quieted down, and I thought maybe he'd go to sleep without the bear. This could begin the process of weaning -- cold turkey might be an option, but I wasn't requiring it at this point.
So an excellent process by which I was teaching him not to rely on his security bear. That's what I thought I was teaching him.
He, apparently, thought I was trying to teach him problem-solving skills. Well, he learned 'em all right. Came walking down the hall to get the bear back from me. Yeah -- instead of my intended lesson, I indirectly taught him to climb out of the crib.
Bed time may never be the same....
--Pop
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
Uh oh!
Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
Aren't kids fun? Their reasoning isn't quite the same as an adult's, though usually just as sound. Posted by Sopwith (Member # 4640) on :
Oh my... this goes into the BabyDot future reference file...
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
You should have known better than to give him back the bear before his nap was over, though. Really. Do that, and it becomes a game.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
I guess you should have just taken it with you, so then he wouldn't have climbed out to get it.
Hindsight is 20/20 though. Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
I can just hear his thoughts:
"Step AWAY from the bear and no-one gets hurt."
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
quote:Originally posted by Kwea: I guess you should have just taken it with you, so then he wouldn't have climbed out to get it.
*cough*
quote:And again, I left the room with the bear. . . . [he]Came walking down the hall to get the bear back from me.
Posted by kmbboots (Member # 8576) on :
My nephew is in the throes of being potty trained. Since he doesn't like the feeling of having wet pants, my sister thought she could use that to get him to go in the toilet. Instead, he has just learned to change his own clothes.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Ahh....\
Nevermind..... Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
That's when you break out the belt. Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
*Begins to tell embarrassing story about son's babyhood*
*Remembers that he is a member of this forum, too, and might not appreciate it*
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
The Posey company, beloved by healthcare workers for their patient restraints, has some child friendly models, too.
Posted by whiskysunrise (Member # 6819) on :
That's great. Posted by Stan the man (Member # 6249) on :
Hah! That awesome Pops. But you know what? You know you wanted to nap out with the teddy bear. See, Superstation was just trying to keep you from getting into the habit of using teddy as a security blanket.
Posted by JennaDean (Member # 8816) on :
Almost-8-year-old-son still can't sleep without his baby blanket, which now only fits around his neck.
Are we supposed to be weaning them? Whoops.... Posted by Miro (Member # 1178) on :
I still sleep with my baby blanket. Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
We were in the car tonight and Ems was screaming. KPC asked her, "Do you see the moon?" And then, because that quieted her down while she looked, "What does the moon say?" (Hoping, I think, to stump her; she knows most of her animals now, but I think he was wondering what she was going to answer.)
She immediately replied, "I am moon." Because really, what else would the moon say?
Ask a silly question...
Posted by esl (Member # 3143) on :
Ems is cute! and very intelligent. I wouldn't have been able to come up with that.
Miro, I still sleep with my baby blanket too. But weaning in terms of a security item means being able to sleep without it? I'm a bit unclear on the concept..
Posted by Christy (Member # 4397) on :
I hear ya, Pop. Sophie hasn't been wanting to go to sleep and hasn't been nursing to sleep as usual, so I thought this would be a great time to teach her how to go to sleep on her own. After nursing, I hugged her, gave her a kiss, asked her which animal she'd like to take to bed and put her in her crib.
She melted down completely. Hyperventilating, shaking, hysterics. On the plus side, she did go to sleep without nursing, but it was in our bed with lots of snuggles from mama and dada. I have a bad feeling I'm trading one ill for another.
Sophie has a "yes dance" too. *giggle* And also loves the moon. I love the fact that the moon says "I am moon" though! That's adorable! We've been asking Sophie what mama, dada and Sophie say to see what she'll answer. So far, we've not gotten any response, though.
Edit -- yay, she went to sleep as usual tonight! We had been missing her puppy, but she hadn't been asking for it, so I'm wondering if that did the trick or if it was me telling her that once the milk was gone tonight, we were going to go night-night before we started. Either way, woot!
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On the plus side, she did go to sleep without nursing, but it was in our bed with lots of snuggles from mama and dada. I have a bad feeling I'm trading one ill for another.