WFMW--helping kids sleep

I have struggled with my kids sleep habits for years. I've blocked out those early days and middle of the night feedings, but up until recently, my 12 year old son could not go to sleep at night. He would often be up for an hour or more not able to go to sleep. My daughter was going to sleep, rather quickly, but she would wake up EVERY single night. Sometimes I would wake up and attempt to lay her back down. She almost always went to Dad's side of the bed, in which he may or may not lay her down. But more often than not, she would somehow end up in between us. We sometimes neither one remembered HOW she got there. Thing is, she ended up in our bed almost every night and she was about to turn 10. We tried to come up with some ideas, because it was getting crowded in our bed. Does Hubs go sleep on the couch the rest of the night? We even pulled in a cot and let her climb into her own separate bed in our room...how long could that last? I found this book on the Internet and bought it.




I was desperate and actually bought 3 books (it was one of those nights that my son couldn't go to sleep and I knew that my daughter was going to wake up...I was at my wit's end and tired so I pulled up the web for help). The other books were not that helpful, but Floppy Sleep Game, by Patti Teel, showed some promise. It had a 4 week plan in it and lots of very helpful suggestions. I wanted to follow that plan and see....I will admit I was so very skeptical. But, short of having my daughter still sleeping in bed with me when was 26, I wanted to give it a fair try. I waited until the right "timing" so that I could dedicate a FULL 4 weeks to plan. Right after my daughter's 10th birthday, the plan began. I really noticed a difference within a couple weeks. Here we are 8 months later and my daughter not only stays in her bed all night, she was listing some things she does well (bless her heart, her mom is a social worker) and included sleeping all night as one of her strengths. The book comes with a CD (but it also tells you how you can make your own sleep tape for your child) and my sweet girl wanted me to tell you all that she listens to it every night (when I told her that I was sharing this for WFMW). I would also like to add that my son goes to sleep better now, and I believe one of the biggest factors for that was our "No technology after 7 p.m." rule (translated, that means no TV, video games, or computer at least an hour before bedtime) which we implemented due to suggestions in this book. We got a little slack on that rule in the summer and....surprise! he had trouble going to sleep. I cannot tell you what a huge blessing this book has been for me and my house. My daughter went from waking EVERY SINGLE NIGHT to since then waking only a couple of times in the past 8 months(once she was sick and the other times she had a bad dream).



For more Works for Me Wednesday ideas, head on over to Rocks in My Dryer!