From day 1, we insisted that Desi would not sleep in our bed. I am not a fan of the "family bed." Not because I'm all judgy, or whatever. But, because I want some sleep! I don't need a toddler kicking me in the ribs, all night.
Every since we promoted Desmond from the crib to the "big-boy bed" (which is actually still a bed for little boys, only it's not a crib) it has been a challenge keeping him in the bed.
For those that haven't seen our house, Desmond's room doesn't have a door. It's not technically a bedroom. We used it as the office before he got here. But, it's a great place for a nursery as it's the only room on the same floor as the master bedroom. Eventually, when he is efficient in navigating the stairs by himself, we will move him upstairs into what is now the guest bedroom. But, for now...he stays where he is. In a room with no door.
We do a pretty good job of getting him to sleep in his bed at the beginning of the night. We read stories, say prayers, tuck him in, go to our room, put him back in bed after he comes in to our room, tuck him in, go back to our room, take Desi back to his room, threaten to put up the baby gate, go back to our room, help Desi go potty, again, take him back to his room, tuck him in, maybe finally get to sleep.
Anyway...at the start of the night, he sleeps in his bed. Where he has outsmarted us, however, is in the middle of the night. Shaundar and I have both been working a lot, lately. So, when we finally crash, we our OUT. We are beat and we've been looking forward to sleeping for as long as possible. This is where Desi takes advantage. Anywhere between 3 and 5, he will tiptoe into our room and come right up to one of our faces. "I want to sleep in your bed," he will whisper multiple times until we finally wake up, or at least stop pretending we're still asleep.
At this point, the choice is A) pick him up and let him sleep the rest of the early morning in our bed or B) take him back to his bed and fight the battle that is getting him to stay in his bed. This late at night, the battle often includes crying. Choice A usually wins. Once we plop him in our bed, he is usually asleep again within a few minutes. Within a few more minutes, he has securely established his place on my side of the bed leaving he with about a half a foot of space to try not to fall off of.
Of course, this isn't always the case, as was demonstrated once last week when he woke at 3 and decided he wanted to play in our bed rather than go back to sleep. It took two and a half hours and a round of trying to get him back into his bed before he finally fell asleep, again. Just in time for Shaundar's alarm to go off.
So, we now find ourselves just giving in every time. He shows up in our room, we plop him in the middle and try to get what sleep we can before morning. One day, I will just bite the bullet and nip this in the bud. I shouldn't expect much sleep as we go through that. But, for now...laziness wins.
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