HUGE Victory

Many of you will now be able to tell me, "I told you so!" and I will smile to myself knowing that you were right. Last night, I took the plunge and made Garrett go to bed without laying down with him. HOORAY!!!!! For the last 14 months, Garrett has not went to bed by himself and up until December or so, he was sleeping in our bed everynight.

So, with the encouragement from a friend, I took a deep breath and decided that last night was the night that Garrett was going to go to sleep without me or Fred laying down with him. Since Fred had to work late last night, I was the only one that had to hear him scream, which I think made it easier to follow through. I was very surprised that Brett slept through the whole 1 hour and 10 minutes of Garrett screaming while being put back into his bed many many times. I followed the Super Nanny routine (with a few minor adjustments) of telling him goodnight and putting him to bed, then telling him goodnight the 2nd time and each time after that just picking him up and placing him back in his bed. After a while, I wasn't sure if he was going to give up, but I kept at it and with God's help, I was able to keep my calm and patience to endure the very LONG hour of screaming. He did try everything he could think of, though, and I did feel bad a few times when he kept telling me, "I'm sorry, sorry, Momma I'm sorry", which is when I explained to him that I was not mad at him, that I loved him very much, it was just time for him to go to bed. I hugged and kissed him on the way back to his bedroom several times to reassure him that I was not mad at him and I did love him (he just needed to GO TO BED). He finally gave up and went to sleep. YES!!!

Fred had to work late again tonight, so I went through the same routine with both him and Brett....and it worked. Last night I decided that both of them were going to bed without me laying down or rocking them. Brett fell asleep after about 10 minutes of fussing. Tonight it only took him about 5 minutes and he was asleep. For Garrett, there was some screaming and getting out of bed and being put back in bed several times, along with him telling me he was sorry, but tonight it only lasted 20 minutes. He finally asked me for all his friends (Mickey Mouse, Curious George, the dinosaur and Elmo) and after wimpering a few more times, he went to sleep.

Tomorrow may be a little ruff because it will be the 1st night that his Daddy will be here at bedtime. He may try the same tricks to get him to lay down with him, but as long as Fred and I stand united, I think we have won a major battle. I can't say that we have won the war yet, because he did sneak into our bedroom in the middle of the night and crawl in bed with us! That has to stop, of course, but I'm thankful for the battle we just won and am very confident that we will win the war! Hallelujah.

Thank you, Erica. Your honesty and encouragement last night really helped me finally take this giant (and healthy) step forward.