I've out smarted you, little one!

For the past, I'd say, few weeks now, getting Nicolas to bed and staying in bed has been a bit of a struggle. HA! More than just a bit, a I'mgoingtogonutsliterally struggle! (Just being honest)

When we first changed his bed into a toddler bed, he did fine with his naps and bedtime. I extended his going to bed time by 30-45 minutes just to be sure he was tired. He did fine with that. No problems. There was the occasional get up once or twice but with a simple walk back to his room and telling him to go back to bed was enough.This would happen anywhere from the second we put him to bed to 4am. (Mind you I wake up for the day between 5:15-5:30am!)

It started to get more frequent and for longer durations of trying to get him to go back to sleep. I was losing my mind. My husband sleeps like a rock but I on the other hand, wake up to every sound.

It got to the point just the other day that would not stay in bed from the second we closed the door. I counted probably 20-30 times he got out of bed. And every time it was a different excuse. I give him a sippy of milk to go to bed with (I know! I'm trying to master one change at a time but taking that away is next on my list) and he would whine it was all gone and he wanted more when the cup was still full. He would roll it under his bed and whine that he lost it. He would hide it under his blankets and act like it was gone. He would even place it under his pillow just to get me to come in his room to look for it. I'm not dealing with the average two year old here! He thinks he's sly and it takes all my being not to laugh at his little pranks.

We tried explaining that it's bed time, we tried spanking him, we tried talking stern to him but nothing seemed to work. He was destined to stay awake. From the second we would close his door after laying him back in his bed he was right there to open it again. Frustrated does not even cover how I felt. It was truly exhausting. It would be a totally different story if I was a stay at home mom and could catch up on sleep the next day during nap time. But I'm not. Like I said I wake up in the 5am hour and don't go to sleep until close to 11-11:30pm. Insert driving to and from work for a total of an hour each day, working a full 8 hours, coming home to clean, cook dinner, play with the kids, and working out. HE NEEDS TO SLEEP SO I CAN SLEEP!

So...after he watched his night time cartoon, taking a bath, brushing his teeth, and reading a 4 in 1 story book, I did this..

Yep! I caged the animal in his room! And I have no shame about it! He needs to learn that bed time is in fact that, BED TIME!

After about 25 minutes of screaming bloody murder, low and behold you know what he did?

CRAWLED INTO BED AND WENT TO SLEEP!

Last night, this mom, felt like I had conquered the tireless two year old! I could accomplish ANYTHING! (maybe not but you know what I mean)

We'll see how tonight goes. Nicolas, make momma proud will ya?