It's something you'd think would come naturally, but it just doesn't. And bedtime routines are very difficult to establish with some kids.
My daughter slept quite well from the beginning, though she was a head banger. In those days, nobody understood why and I was racked with guilt about it and fretted every day. She did outgrow it, but it took about 2 years and every night, it broke my heart.
My son was a little shit. He refused to sleep and screamed and carried on probably for the first two years. We had a double bed put in his room and took it in turns to sleep with him in shifts so we could get at least a few hours sleep each. I also watched a lot of late night tv with him, becoming quite the armchair expert on slalom and downhill ski-ing :)
But I remember trying to drive around till he slept, go for walks with him in the stroller etc. We rocked him, sang to him, told him stories... all to no avail. I think he was just a bundle of energy and could not stand to miss out on anything. He remained an early riser for years, bouncing out of bed, full of beans at 5am wanting me to help him build a railway line. Mind you as a teen, he finally learned the art of power sleeping 20 hours a day. Only 13 years too late...
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Date: 2008-11-20 07:59 pm (UTC)My daughter slept quite well from the beginning, though she was a head banger. In those days, nobody understood why and I was racked with guilt about it and fretted every day. She did outgrow it, but it took about 2 years and every night, it broke my heart.
My son was a little shit. He refused to sleep and screamed and carried on probably for the first two years. We had a double bed put in his room and took it in turns to sleep with him in shifts so we could get at least a few hours sleep each. I also watched a lot of late night tv with him, becoming quite the armchair expert on slalom and downhill ski-ing :)
But I remember trying to drive around till he slept, go for walks with him in the stroller etc. We rocked him, sang to him, told him stories... all to no avail. I think he was just a bundle of energy and could not stand to miss out on anything. He remained an early riser for years, bouncing out of bed, full of beans at 5am wanting me to help him build a railway line. Mind you as a teen, he finally learned the art of power sleeping 20 hours a day. Only 13 years too late...