"Jack in the Box"

Chris and I have always felt lucky because of all of the challenges we have faced, sleeping was never one of them until recently with Colin.  Even when we had faced that one period where Colin was hopping out of bed, we seemed to have ended it quickly.  However, it recently took a turn for the worse when we started to have to lay with him every night in order for him to go to sleep.  Unfortunately, that turned into 30+ minutes at a time and we felt like we were losing our nights.  We even avoided the issue and took every advantage we could to get the kids asleep in the car so that we could just transfer them into bed.  We realized our issues were spiraling out of control and we were just losing the small amount of time we had together at night.  

Coincidentally, one of my blog friends Jenni from Tales from Graceland, emailed me a great link that offered sleep advice that she had tried.  They offered tips that I have heard about before from the SuperNanny for the child that does the "Jack in the Box", or also known as "hopping out of bed a million times".  The suggested method is to put them in bed and every time they get up, put them right back in without making eye contact or saying anything to them.  The tips say that even if it takes 100 times, you continue until they give in.  

Our first night took 68 times spanning an hour and a half.  Thankfully we decided to do this together so we each took shifts so that neither of us had to do it alone.  The first chunk he laughed because he thought it was a game, the second chunk he realized something was up and wasn't too happy, and then the last chunk he cried every time we put him back in bed (he even tried to bite us a few times).  It was exhausting and torturous, but we did not want to give up.  He certainly knew how to tug at my heart strings by clinging to me and saying "mama" over and over again.

The second night took 13 times spanning 20 minutes.  He started crying pretty early this time and gave in pretty quickly.  Apparently the 3rd night is supposed to be the charm so I can't wait to see how that goes.  I do feel pretty proud so far that we decided to do it together and we are seeing some changes.  I can only keep my fingers crossed and hope that if we stay strong, it really will work.

This weekend was a fun and beautiful one.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous and we got to spend a good amount of time together and outside.  Saturday was my birthday so we ventured out and went bowling which was a lot of fun!

The kids seemed to love being outside and it made me so anxious for our summer days to get here.  

Unfortunately, we think Kailey was bit by something over her right eye because it was red and swollen and she had a rash going from her eye to her hairline.  This was on top of her teething so she was screaming most of the early part of the night.  

I'll keep you posted and let you know how night #3 goes!