The Bedtime Battle

We are doing battle at home. So far Mo 0, Mom 2. On Monday I had decided that Mo was a year old and therefore could start going to bed on time (my time) and that by doing so he should sleep better.

We had tried this before, but Mo was sick and I could only here so much coughing and wheezing before I rescued him. This was also brought on by the fact that the last few weeks when he started getting sleepy, he would refuse to cuddle and get away from me and start playing to keep himself up.

He started trying to escape and play on Monday night. So after jammies and teeth brushing, he gave daddy a kiss and I took him downstairs. I sang the evening prayer, and one verse of Goodnight my Love. Then when I asked if he wanted to say his prayers he immediately clasped his hands. He still thought this was all a cute game. But when the prayer was over, I left and he cried. Luckily for the rest of us, Kaia and Dana were watching Cars and had the surround sound on (there was no hearing him!). After a half an hour of on and off crying he was fast asleep.

Last night Mo knew what was coming. He gave daddy kisses, but was not happy when I took him into the bedroom. I tried singing the songs to him. He alternated between trying to climb out of my arms, and begging to be picked back up when I'd put him in his crib for the rest of the song. He was crying through his prayer and screamed a bit when I left. He was asleep within a half an hour once again.

He's not sleeping straight through the night yet, but definitely sleeping better now that he's going to bed on time.

In other news Morgan now has the joy of riding in a front facing child seat and Kaia gets to ride in a big girl booster seat. Mom is loving the separation this brings. No more fighting over the shade on Mo's rear facing seat or Kaia jerking his thumb out of his mouth. Sibling rivalry starts young!