Of course CHEEZY worked

We used the Sleep Easy Solution book for sleep training Avalon as a baby. It worked great! When we read through the book, we noticed every section had two areas of focus: Crib sleepers and toddler bed sleepers. Of course at age 6 months we had no need for the bed sleeping aspect of it, so we skimmed over it. And until we moved into our house in July, we didn't think we would ever need  the book again. But things change.

So, when we moved into our house, Avalon wanted to stay sleeping in Loudoun's room. It's what she knew. Totally cool with us. Besides, Loudoun's room is right across the hall from our room, so it meant we could hear both kids easier through the night. It was also the time we transitioned her into a big girl bed. She was climbing like crazy and the crib concept  was never going to work again.

Loudoun always comes into our bed around 4 or 5am. We love this. It's our snuggle time for the few hours before everyone has to get up. Almost from the get-go, Avalon started coming in as well....only at 11pm, right as we were going to bed. Not cool. At first we tolerated it, but she doesn't sleep well in between us...she kicks, she sleeps sideways, she asks for juice 6 times a night, and we were going crazy. Wide awake crazy.

So, 2 nights ago we decided we had to sleep train her again. Obviously, she had lost her ability to put herself back to sleep on her own, in her own bed. So I busted out the sleep training book again, to read the toddler bed section. Rick and I read it together. The book suggested that once the toddler gets out of her bed and comes over to the side of your bed, you need to say, "Ooops! It looks like you accidentally got out of bed! Let Mommy put you back."

Rick and I got the biggest kick out this advice. I mean, how cheesy can you sound in the middle of the night talking to your sleepy toddler? "Oooooooooh, look how you accidentally got out of bed!" Who knows if she even knows what accidentally means. But, since the book worked so well for the baby stage, we decided to move forward. Of course, I had no idea how I was going to say it outloud without laughing.

So, sure enough, she popped into our room at 11:30. "Avalon, oooops! It looks like, chuckle, chuckle, you accidentally, BUAH HA HA, got out of your bed! Let Daddy Mommy take you back."

I put her back in bed as she was kicking, crying and screaming, walked out and closed her door (as the book also suggests). As I crawled back into my bed, Rick and I heard her walking towards her closed bedroom door, crying and upset.

But THEN, after only about 30 seconds of crying, she turned around, walked back to her bed, crawled in, wimpered for 10 seconds, and fell back asleep.

Wha??

Are you kidding me?

The cheesy line worked? Even through my chuckles and giggles?

Rick and I were shocked. We sat there laughing about it for a good 10 minutes. But that was it, because we needed to get our sleep, for we all know that sleep training lasts many times throughout the night. 4 to be exact on this occasion. Although, she still ended up in our bed somewhere around 2am, except I didn't wake up for it because she was sneaky enough to climb up at the foot of the bed.

That was 2 nights ago, and we had even better luck last night. Hopefully, in 1 or 2 more attempts, we'll have an independently-sleeping little girl....Who crawls in at no earlier than 4am to snuggle with all of us until we have to get up and start our day.