September 10, 2012

{Brylee the Brave}

We have conquered something BIG in our house this month and I am so excited for Brylee and proud of her too! 

Brylee has been sleeping on the floor in our room since she came home from her 2 weeks stay in the hospital after having appendicitis at the end of January; that is almost 9 months! She was afraid to go to back to her room. At first we did not push this issue; we knew that she had been through a lot. We let her stay with us in our room until after her surgery; which was in March. We even let her stay until she went back to the doctor for her check up when she got the all clear in April. When then tried to talk her back into going into her room and she was NOT having it. She would basically go into an all out crying hyperventilating fit at bedtime and it was just not worth the battle. So we just let her sleep on the floor in our room and tried to not make a big deal about it in hopes she would go back to her room on her own; lets face it the floor could not be comfortable and we have a queen size bed so there was no coming in the bed with us there is just not enough room! That plan did not work either I was beginning to think she was going to be a senior in high school sleeping on our floor. We thought about starting her in her room when school started but them realized that was just too much to do at the same time. She was already having issues going back to school we certainly did not need to add sleeping in her room to the list! So Labor Day was the magic day! I researched ways to get your "big kids" to sleep in their rooms, talked to other parents who had this same issue and got ideas from them, and RP and I decided we would stick to the plan no matter how hard it was... we were not giving up!!!!! 

So Labor Day Night we told her on the way home from GoGo and Grandaddy's house that tonight was the night she was going to sleep in her bed. Like we expected, she flipped her "stuff" and went NUTS in the car. We stayed calm and just talked to her and told her we would lay down with her until she went to sleep and her night lights would be on and if she woke up she could come to our room etc. Thankfully she calmed down by the time we got home and seemed "OK" with the plan. I laid down with her and she went to sleep in about 45 min to an hour and slept until about 3:30am before she came into our room. Not bad for the 1st night!!! The next night we did the same thing laid down with her until she went to sleep. Wednesday night I had something to do so RP had to do the bed time routine... well that did not go so well... not b.c of what he did but b.c brylee would not go to sleep without me. RP said she was asleep twice even snoring once and she still woke up when he got up! Once I got home at 9 she was still awake and I had to lay down with her but she finally went to sleep but the GOOD NEWS is she slept in her bed all night long; I am sure due to pure exhaustion from going to bed so late. Nonetheless, she made it all night long and I actually got to wake her up in her bed the next morning to get ready for school! She needed that b.c she realized she could do it and it wasn't so bad after all! We decided to add something to our plan. Instead of us actually laying down in the bed with her we now sit or lay on the floor in her room and she lays in her bed. It has worked out great. It also helps her not to wake up when we get out of her bed. Some nights she goes to sleep quickly and sometimes it takes her a little longer but we have NOT had any tears since the 1st night!!! YAY!!! 

Brylee has been sleeping in her room for 2 weeks now and most night she makes it all night long. There has been a few nights she get up and comes to our room but it is usually around 4 or 5. I can't really complain about that... I wish I was awake enough to take her back to her bed but I am not! But she has slept in her bed all night long more than she hasn't. We are so glad! 

We are going to keep going along with our plan slowly moving out of her room and hopefully before to much longer she will be going to sleep in her room without us even in there. We are staying calm, being patient, and praying nightly for God to help Brylee to be Brave! (Which is actually a funny part b.c the first night she would start to get upset and then she was say out loud "God help me to be brave"... I bet she said it about 10 times that first night... behind tears and all!)

This might have been one of the hardest things we have done in our parent life. We knew it was a fear thing for her... she was afraid to sleep in her room. We certainly wanted to be sensitive to that but at the same time  show her tough love. We are all happier and sleeping so much better. She doesn't like to admit it often but she agrees that her bed is so much more comfortable than the floor! 

This was so different for us because I did not even let my kids as babies sleep in our room. Jackson made it maybe 2 nights and then he was "kicked out" into his crib in his room; he made way too much noise (it was just across the hall; not like he was upstairs) and brylee never even made it in our room... she was in her crib from the first night and honestly I think she would still be sleeping in a crib if I had not made her get out of it when she was about 3 1/2 years old. Even then she transitioned great to her big girl bed but when you are dealing with fear it is a whole different situation! 

We are so proud of you Brylee girl... YOU ARE SO BRAVE!!!!

(sorry this was so long... congratulations if you made it this far :)