Ok, just a quick note on the bedtime wars.
New strategy.
Monster goes to bed with iPod/iPhone for 10 minutes.
Afterward, he can choose to stay by himself or have mommy/daddy in their bed while he is in his bed. He has to stay laying down with head on pillow, eyes closed.
So far (been doing this for 3 whole nights ;) ), he ends up in my bed, but only when he is ready to finally fall asleep.
Next step, leaving before he is totally asleep. The biggest hurdle is I'm pretty sure there is a sensory component that I'm missing. I think something like the weighted blanket or mummy bag (sleeping bag that is tight on your body) will work, but he has to consent and right now he isn't ready to want to go to sleep, yet.
2 more weeks of school (10 days total). We'll see if things get better then or if I've just been deluding myself!
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Friday, June 4, 2010
Bedtime Battles
Bedtime continues to be a major struggle.
The weighted blanket was a fail. If I put it down by his feet, it seems to help during sleep, something to press against, but he doesn't even want it on his bed.
On Monday, Memorial Day, Monster went to bed by himself and fell asleep by himself. Yea! But, alas, it was a fluke and has yet to be repeated. The best we can figure out, he doesn't want to go to school. He is very much done! (Not that I blame the little guy, it's been a long, tough year) So, in his mind, it seems like if he doesn't go to sleep, school won't ever happen. Being the mean and cruel parents we are, Mr and I always make him go to school the next day.
We changed up his bedtime, again, a few weeks ago. Instead of a movie at bedtime (after the 666th viewing of Escape to Witch Mountain), he gets to play with an iPhone/iPod Touch for 5-10 minutes in his bed (by himself). Afterwards, we say goodnight, turn out the light and let him try and go to sleep by himself. 3 weeks of no luck-we eventually have to go in and lay with him-we had a success on Memorial Day. I think it took him about 20 minutes or so, but Mr. had the resolve to let Monster work through things on his own. Every night since, Monster gets up and either starts jumping on the beds, sings, or just comes out looking for us. We end up in the room with him, again, and he proceeds to try everything he can think of to stay awake, including trying to provoke us to the point of yelling (something, I, unfortunately, with an embarrassing frequency).
He shouldn't have been able to fall asleep on Monday. We went to 6 Flags, got home late and he was amped and over-tired. Usually a recipe for a long night for Mr and I. So what was different? The only things I can think of are he got to spend a lot of time with me and Mr (all day at 6 flags) and he may have thought he was done with school (since it was Monday and he didn't go to school).
We have three more weeks of school, but we are going to try an experiment tonight by letting him know, emphatically, that tomorrow is a "home day" and there would be no school. Maybe that will be what it takes, or maybe not. Another thing that concerns me is that we praised him for being "a big boy". I think he doesn't want to be a big boy. He often tells me he is a baby. Can't blame him for that, growing up can be a big pain, especially if it means he has to be more in control with more responsibilities.
We aren't giving up, though. We will keep trying different things. Keep trying to let him work things out on his own and keep crossing our fingers.
The weighted blanket was a fail. If I put it down by his feet, it seems to help during sleep, something to press against, but he doesn't even want it on his bed.
On Monday, Memorial Day, Monster went to bed by himself and fell asleep by himself. Yea! But, alas, it was a fluke and has yet to be repeated. The best we can figure out, he doesn't want to go to school. He is very much done! (Not that I blame the little guy, it's been a long, tough year) So, in his mind, it seems like if he doesn't go to sleep, school won't ever happen. Being the mean and cruel parents we are, Mr and I always make him go to school the next day.
We changed up his bedtime, again, a few weeks ago. Instead of a movie at bedtime (after the 666th viewing of Escape to Witch Mountain), he gets to play with an iPhone/iPod Touch for 5-10 minutes in his bed (by himself). Afterwards, we say goodnight, turn out the light and let him try and go to sleep by himself. 3 weeks of no luck-we eventually have to go in and lay with him-we had a success on Memorial Day. I think it took him about 20 minutes or so, but Mr. had the resolve to let Monster work through things on his own. Every night since, Monster gets up and either starts jumping on the beds, sings, or just comes out looking for us. We end up in the room with him, again, and he proceeds to try everything he can think of to stay awake, including trying to provoke us to the point of yelling (something, I, unfortunately, with an embarrassing frequency).
He shouldn't have been able to fall asleep on Monday. We went to 6 Flags, got home late and he was amped and over-tired. Usually a recipe for a long night for Mr and I. So what was different? The only things I can think of are he got to spend a lot of time with me and Mr (all day at 6 flags) and he may have thought he was done with school (since it was Monday and he didn't go to school).
We have three more weeks of school, but we are going to try an experiment tonight by letting him know, emphatically, that tomorrow is a "home day" and there would be no school. Maybe that will be what it takes, or maybe not. Another thing that concerns me is that we praised him for being "a big boy". I think he doesn't want to be a big boy. He often tells me he is a baby. Can't blame him for that, growing up can be a big pain, especially if it means he has to be more in control with more responsibilities.
We aren't giving up, though. We will keep trying different things. Keep trying to let him work things out on his own and keep crossing our fingers.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
The $15, no-sew weighted lap blanket
Monster uses a weighted blanket at school. I've been toying with the idea of using one at home as well. The biggest stumbling block was the cost vs. his potential use. I don't mind spending what I have to get something that will help Monster and he'll use. We dropped a huge chunk of change on a loft bed with a slide that he loved to play on (even if he didn't actually sleep in it). The slide is now outside on his swing set and he is actually sleeping in the bed (part time anyway).
I looked up how to make one, and didn't see anything that I could do without sewing. I don't have a sewing machine and have only the most rudimentary sewing skills anyway (I can hem up something or patch a seam, but I'm not a seamstress). After a few stops and starts and alterations, I was able to make a 6lb lap blanket yesterday and Monster crawled under it during bedtime. I have no idea if it was the blanket or the super long bath, but he fell asleep quite nicely (for a change).
From my reading, the weight should be about 10% plus 1 pound. Monster is just under 60 lbs (he lost a smidge of weight), so I went with a 6 lb blanket.
I found all of the components at Ocean State Job Lot (similar to Big Lots) for just under $15.00. Most people suggest that you fill weighted blankets with poly pellets because they are washable. I chose to make the weighted inserts removable so the cover can be washed without the weight in them. If you substitute Poly Pellets, the cost will double or triple. You can also substitute aquarium rocks-which should be machine washable.
What you need:
Queen sized pillow covers (the kind with the zipper)
3 pairs of socks
6lbs of rice
stitch witch (a no-sew bonding material, you can find it at Walmart or any fabric store)
An iron
damp cloth (for the stitch witch)
smooth surface like an ironing board
some sort of scale (although 1 lb of rice is just over 2 cups)
Tape measure
pins
Fill each sock with 1 lb of rice. Each sock was sealed with stitch witch. Cut the stitch witch to fit the opening of the sock and follow the directions on its packaging.
Using the queen sized pillow, I found that placing the stitch witch at about 4 3/4" intervals evenly distributed the socks along the length of the pillow. You can place the socks in the pillow case first-they should lay (or is it lie?) across the width of the pillow-to find what you think is the best placement. Basically, we are going to make channels in the pillow case to hold the socks in place.
I would mark the location for the stitch witch with pins, insert the stitch witch between the two sides of the pillow case and iron it in place. The stitch witch was only about 3/4 the width of the pillow case so that I could still maneuver the weighted sock into the channel (and back out again as needed). Repeat 5 times so that you end up with 6 channels.
Insert the weighted sock into each channel and zip the case closed.
If you wish, you can also use a standard queen size pillow case to use as a cover.
The whole thing took me about an hour or so.
I looked up how to make one, and didn't see anything that I could do without sewing. I don't have a sewing machine and have only the most rudimentary sewing skills anyway (I can hem up something or patch a seam, but I'm not a seamstress). After a few stops and starts and alterations, I was able to make a 6lb lap blanket yesterday and Monster crawled under it during bedtime. I have no idea if it was the blanket or the super long bath, but he fell asleep quite nicely (for a change).
From my reading, the weight should be about 10% plus 1 pound. Monster is just under 60 lbs (he lost a smidge of weight), so I went with a 6 lb blanket.
I found all of the components at Ocean State Job Lot (similar to Big Lots) for just under $15.00. Most people suggest that you fill weighted blankets with poly pellets because they are washable. I chose to make the weighted inserts removable so the cover can be washed without the weight in them. If you substitute Poly Pellets, the cost will double or triple. You can also substitute aquarium rocks-which should be machine washable.
What you need:
Queen sized pillow covers (the kind with the zipper)
3 pairs of socks
6lbs of rice
stitch witch (a no-sew bonding material, you can find it at Walmart or any fabric store)
An iron
damp cloth (for the stitch witch)
smooth surface like an ironing board
some sort of scale (although 1 lb of rice is just over 2 cups)
Tape measure
pins
Fill each sock with 1 lb of rice. Each sock was sealed with stitch witch. Cut the stitch witch to fit the opening of the sock and follow the directions on its packaging.
Using the queen sized pillow, I found that placing the stitch witch at about 4 3/4" intervals evenly distributed the socks along the length of the pillow. You can place the socks in the pillow case first-they should lay (or is it lie?) across the width of the pillow-to find what you think is the best placement. Basically, we are going to make channels in the pillow case to hold the socks in place.
I would mark the location for the stitch witch with pins, insert the stitch witch between the two sides of the pillow case and iron it in place. The stitch witch was only about 3/4 the width of the pillow case so that I could still maneuver the weighted sock into the channel (and back out again as needed). Repeat 5 times so that you end up with 6 channels.
Insert the weighted sock into each channel and zip the case closed.
If you wish, you can also use a standard queen size pillow case to use as a cover.
The whole thing took me about an hour or so.
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