Dum Dums to the rescue

Number 70. Get Strider to sleep in his own bed. This has been one of our most difficult challenges we've had with Strider. None of the other boys had trouble sleeping on their own. By 18 months they all happily said good night and climbed into their own beds and stayed there. Strider is different. Well maybe HE'S not different, we are. We are older and more tired. The effort of laying on the floor and waiting for him to fall asleep and trying to sneak out was too much. It was so much easier to let him fall asleep on our bed then move him later but then he ALWAYS comes back. And if we were too tired and lazy at 9pm to make him stay in bed, we were MORE lazy at 3 am. So this dragged on for YEARS. He is now 4 years old.

Two nights ago I bribed him. I told him if went to sleep in his own bed AND stayed there all night I'd give him a lollipop every morning with his breakfast. BUT I didn't have any of the goods to deliver that I promise so I told him the first morning he'd get a marshmallow and that day we would go out shopping to buy his special bag of pops.

He went straight to bed! He woke up in the morning and came down stairs all pleased as punch and and announced "I sleeped in my OWN bed, where's my treat!" Later we went to the store ( 2 times and brought CLOTH BAGS!!) and he got a bag of Dum Dum Pops. We keep them safely hidden away and ONLY as a prebreakfast treat.

Again last night he went straight to bed. This morning a repeat of yesterday. He came into my bedroom singing "Mooooooom, I sleeped in my own beeeeeeed!" And he got his lollipop. Now he is collecting his special pop wrappers to send away for a Dum Dums T shirt.

It's only been 2 nights but it's a start!