My Toddler Went To Sleep At 1:41AM!

Hello everyone,

I hope this post finds you healthy and safe. Remember to do your part in stopping the spread of Covid-19.

I was going to post something entirely different. But, if being a parent has taught me anything is that life with a toddler is anything but predictable. Last night was one of those instances...

My toddler, who is almost three, decided that she was not going to "night night". Nope. In fact, she was acting very excited and too awake to even think of going to bed. I thought it was just being overtired, but I was wrong and right, at the same time.

Her and I have a routine. About a half hour before her bedtime, I already warn her that it will soon be "night night". I then give her a hot cup of milk with Ovaltine and that is her indicator that she will soon be going "night night". We then go upstairs and the routine is as follows:

1) Brush our teeth

2) Turn on the sound machine

3) Pick the books we will be reading

4) Pray

5) Read the books

6) Kiss and hug the two teddy bears and bunnies, including her rosary and books, if she chooses to sleep with one

7) Then, we may have one song, another hug and kiss and it's "night night"

On average, I will have to go upstairs once to put her back in bed and she then sleeps through the entire night and wakes up around 8:15am. It's pretty cool and it allows me to get some chores done and go to sleep at a reasonable hour.

Yesterday, my husband decided that he wanted to put her down because he hadn't in a long time. Initially, i wanted to say no because I feared that it would mess up the routine. But, I then thought, that it would be nice to put the boys down, as they are easier and don't require yet as much work. I then proceeded to give it a point by point checklist of the routine to ensure that she would not feel destabilized.

...

I should have gone with my gut instinct and told him not to put her down for the night. It may or may have not prevented what took place. She was already pretty wired before going "night night" and that was my first indication that something was up. I, also, for some reason, did not give her hot chocolate... and I should have. But, I had so many other things to do and it slipped my mind.

She was resistant in going upstairs, but she did and he seemed to have done the same routine. But, yet, my motherly instinct was sensing that it would not be that easy. She started to resist having him leave the room. But, she got quiet and I thought it would be fine. 

...

Then, it happened. She started to cry and whimper, yet when we entered the room, she would be laughing and bubbly and refused to go to bed. She started screaming NO. NO. NO. ... It got bad very quickly. Eventually, I went up with my husband and we attempted to calm her. After a while, I told him to leave as he had to go to work the next day. I then did what any mother would do: be there for her kid and forget about herself.

It was as though I was no longer tired. I, by the grace of God, got her to lie in bed. I kneeled down by her side and started to do two things: 1) pray my rosary and 2) rub her back. She then wanted to hold my hand and that allowed to be able to inch away from her so that when she was asleep, she would not hear me leave the room.

I finished my rosary and had ended a decade of the Divine Mercy chaplet when I could feel her hand loosen around my fingers. I left the room, went downstairs and looked at the time on our oven. It was 1:41am. I was exhausted, but I did what was best for my daughter: calm her and put her to sleep.

It took me another half hour to fall asleep and I woke up around 5:30am... It has been a rough day, but she seems to be in good spirits and not misbehaving. Praise God!

What will happen tonight? I will be honest... I am putting her to bed, in the hope that last night was a fluke... if not, I will do what I did last night: be there for her because that is my job as a mother.

Until my next post, remember to wear your masks, practice social distancing and wash your hands.

I wish you all a wonderful and blessed night of sleep.

SM