Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Suggestions, Tips, and Ideas Welcome!

Good morning!

As I mentioned before, Lance has learned to sit up.

Yesterday, I discovered that not only can he pull himself to a sitting position, but when he is placed in his crib, he can pull himself to a kneeling position, pulling up on the crib rails. There was silence in the nursery, I was sure the little guy was asleep. Nope! He was grinning at something in the room as he gingerly peeked over the side of the crib, up on his knees.

So how do we teach the little guy to get himself to sleep in his crib if he just starts playing?

Should I instead be grateful that I can put him in there and he can entertain himself for awhile, giving me a few minutes of peace and quiet?

Is it just a novelty and something he'll stop doing after awhile?

Usually, when he gets sleepy I can put him in his crib, he'll fuss for a few minutes, but then drift off to sleep. Now, instead of fussing, he sits up and starts playing with his teddy bear mobile.

What new and interesting challenges motherhood constantly presents! Just when I think I've finally got something figured out and begin to settle into a little bit of normalcy, Lance learns how to do something new which throws everything off! I'm glad that he's learning to do new things, I just wish he would wait for his mama to catch up!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Remove the mobile so he doesn't break it. Otherwise just put him down like normal and he will got to bed when he is ready. Sometimes my boys will be up there giggling for a good hour after they are in bed. I just ignore it.

Anonymous said...

Jake will sit and play in his crib for nearly an hour sometimes. I just let him do it. If it around his typical nap or bed time he will eventually fall asleep. As Lancelot gets older he may not need as much sleep so the nap times may change. Jake was right around one when he moved to only one nap a day, last about 2-3 hours. Just test him and see how he will do. If he will eventually fall asleep, I'd just stick with that. It's good "alone time" for him! :-) Good luck!

Anonymous said...

Yes, just let him do it. He will fall asleep when he's tired. It does help cut down on it when the room is dark so they can't see anything to play with (even during the day, we keep the shades drawn and such.) But it's good for the crib to be a happy place, and to let him just play himself to sleep. At least he doesn't scream like my first one did (she would NOT go to sleep without screaming for a full 10-15 minutes. EVERY TIME.)

Anonymous said...

Ditch the mobile and just let him go down himself. The real problems begin as soon as he starts to pull himself up and putter around the crib. Get him in a good habit now to self-soothe and it will make a HUGE difference.

Anonymous said...

Rejoice that he is able to play and entertain himself. This is a GIFT. I am laughing becasue this reminds me of my two oldest DSs who napped in the same room from the time there were "two" of them. They used to lay back in that room and "talk" to each other for what seemed like forever...I rejoiced that they enjoyed each others company.

I know it's hard and you wish they came with instruction manuals. Just know that he IS learning the thing that ultimately you are trying to teach him...independence.

HUGS!!

:-) Susan

Anonymous said...

Oh, Guinevere, will we ever catch up?
I agree with the others to take his mobile out and be pleased that he is content to entertain himself. He will sleep when he needs to.

My little one likes to play for a bit, too. The real blessing is when she wakes up and plays instead of crying for milk. I LOVE that!