My little boy refuses to sleep by himself now. I created a monster by creating the habit and expectation that I would continue sleeping in his room. Slight difference now, however, because I never slept the whole night with him previously. I would fall asleep while getting him to fall asleep, and some short time after, I'd wake up and go to my room. Then, it started.... he'd wake up and come to my room. It wasn't every night, just once in a while. So I'd let him climb in bed with me and sleep. But then it increased in frequency. I eventually tried to start taking him back to his room. He'd fight me, and I (being too tired to argue and stand my ground...) allowed him to continue sleeping in my bed with me. But I wasn't getting any sleep!! So one night I tried to force him to stay in his bed. That obviously didn't work. He cried until he threw up. By then I was just plain exhausted. Now he sleeps in my room. On the floor. I don't know what to do to sleep train him back to his room, back to his bed, on his own!
On the other hand, he seems to be getting this potty thing down pretty well. He'll even go on his own, unprompted, to the potty and take care of business. It just kind of happened. I had been letting him run around bottomless and he'd go to the potty...I tried to get him to read potty books and even tried rewarding him with an m&m when he'd tell me he had to go. It didn't make a difference. If he was naked on the bottom he'd go no problem, but if he had on underwear he'd forget. Then, one day a couple weeks ago...while wearing his diapers mind you, he decided he would go potty. Since then, he's almost always asked to go or just gone on his own. He's still in a diaper or pull up when he's sleeping, but for the most part, we've switched to undies. I am hesitant to take him out without a pull up still. I'm scared of the accident we all know is coming.... we'll see how we do when we go on vacation. I really hope I don't set him back too much over the holidays away. Still... I'm totally happy that he's getting it down. No more diapers!!
Little man is a strong willed little person. Which is a great trait for him to have in the future...not so great now. I've learned to adjust though. Let him choose, and try to remember to reward good behavior. We're working on politeness but he's not even 3 yet, so I'll give him some wiggle room. They all need some wiggle room. With that however, I'm hoping...that the need to sleep with me will be a passing phase. That he'll get tired of sleeping on the floor and one day...DECIDE he'd rather sleep in his bed. Hopefully that's sooner than later. At least, he's fine with being on the floor in my room and not in my tiny twin bed with me and I can get some sleep too. That's the bright side. There's always a bright side.
