My son climbed out of his crib at around sixteen months. We tried everything, which included lowering the mattress, a sleep sack, and even a tent. The kid would not stay in the crib. Our crib was convertible so we switched it out to a toddler bed.
When we switched him to the toddler bed, our hell began. He would not go to sleep at night, nor would he nap. Our son was strung out from lack of sleep, and we were overly tired. Around age two, he started preschool, and he actually took naps there. But at home, at night, well that was a different story. He would eventually crash on the living room floor around ten or eleven at night, which was way too late.
Around age three, we talked to his pediatrician about his sleep habits, or rather lack of sleep. Angry Kid is hyper-active and his brain/body just can’t seem to calm down. She, along with several other people, suggested that we give Angry Kid melatonin to sleep at night. My husband was hesitant at first, but after seeing it work a few times, he praised that little medicine bottle.
We were able to give Angry Kid melatonin in his milk at night for about two years. He would drink it out of a sippy cup and I ground up the medication and mixed it in. He never knew it was in there. After we transitioned off of the sippy cup, we were screwed. I tried to give Angry Kid the pills orally, by asking him to take it. Ya, that didn’t quite work. He made gagging faces, and spit it out in the toilet. So we gave up with that method.
In late July, Angry Kid finished preschool and we transitioned to day camp for the rest of the summer. Angry Kid had been taking naps at preschool/childcare every day, five days a week, up to this point. Angry Kid was now going to camp all day with kindergarten through sixth graders. He did not nap anymore. Well, you can imagine his behavior at night. He was obnoxious. We were having the “witching hour” from around 5pm to 11pm, every night. Our son was out of control and overly tired. We had previously tried about every method of getting him to sleep, and nothing worked.
I work late at night approximately three nights a week. Angry Husband has bedtime duty. Well, actually, he always has bedtime duty. He is better with that, than me, and he has more patience at night. Around mid-August, Angry Husband and I were over this night drama with Angry Kid. I spoke with several of my friends about “this situation” that have school-age kids. Both Shannon and Tiffany told me that we need to lay down the law and apply a strict schedule. Well, Angry Husband didn’t really want to hear this. Actually he didn’t hear this, because we were having a passive/aggressive discussion via text message. Doesn’t everyone argue via text message these days?
Well after a little discussion, Angry Husband agreed to try some new tactics with Angry Kid. At 8pm, the fun is over. I like to define fun as “video games, snacks, juice, treats, and TV shows that the kid enjoys”. Angry Husband did not think it would work. By the second night, our son was sound asleep by 8:30ish pm. Our son now crashes between 8:15-8:30pm every night. He actually TELLS US that he is tired now. I may have actually said the words, “who is this kid, and where did he come from?” Seriously, all of these years with sleep programs, and now he actually tells us that he is tired.
I also think that he is completely exhausted at the end of the day with kindergarten, new habits, after-school program, and all the expectations that come with it. So can I just get a big, “whoop whoop” because kindergarten is awesome and my kid actually sleeps now.
P.S. The key point to my rambling is, put your kid on a schedule, adhere to it, and awesomeness happens.
