Becca has turned two with a vengeance.
I don’t remember either of our other girls being nearly this stubborn or pig-headed at this age. This little girl knows exactly what she wants and she won’t accept anything else. Period.
As you may remember, she and I have already butted heads. And on Sunday, she got her very first time-out, followed rather closely by her second. She wasn’t exactly thrilled. Neither were we, but she needs to understand that she is not in charge.
Mommy and Daddy are in charge. We ARE in charge. Even if Becca doesn’t yet believe it.
So on Tuesday night I put Becca to bed like usual. Ron wasn’t home yet, but that’s common nowadays. However, when he did get home about a half hour later, the sound of his voice woke Becca up. She came wide awake and wanted to see her Daddy.
It’s hard to say no to that when she hasn’t seen him all day. We’ve done this before, where he’s brought her out, snuggled with her for a while and then put her back to bed with little to no trouble.
This time was different. She wanted to have nothing to do with going to bed. We got a glimpse of exactly how stubborn this little girl is.
I think she ended up falling asleep on her bedroom floor after sitting by the door for at least a good half hour, while screaming, crying, pleading, begging and asking us to come and get her. When I woke up Wednesday morning she was in our bed – Ron said she joined us around 3:30 am. She was one tired, grouchy little girl all day.
I was curious how the next night would go. Wednesday nights are always difficult since we get home from church stuff right at bedtime, so the girls don’t get any play time at home. We usually let Becca stay up a few minutes later than the big girls since they understand the reasoning for this and she doesn’t yet. And she usually has gone to bed fairly easily, even on Wednesday nights.
Not so last night.
She is one smart cookie. She tried everything in a 2-year-old’s arsenal.
She asked to go potty. She sobbed that something ‘hurt me, Mommy!’. She asked for Daddy. When Daddy put her in bed, she asked for Mommy. Or vice-versa. She wanted a drink. She flung herself on the floor. She went limp and slithered out of our arms as we carried her to her bed. She snuck the door to her room open and tiptoed out to see how far she could get before we came after her and returned her to bed.
And we took turns trying a variety of different techniques as well. We cuddled or rocked her for a few minutes before attempting to tuck her in. We attempted to reason with her and explain that she needed to go to sleep. Ron took her potty (over my objections). Ron yelled at her. We ignored her.
Imagine this scenario… Ron and I sit in the living room, watching tv and each working on a separate activity. We keep eyes and ears out for a little pitter-patter as Becca sneaks her door open and creeps closer and closer to the living room to see how long it will take for us to notice her. We continue to ignore her.
Suddenly, I sneeze. Loudly. We freeze to see if she has heard…
From the hallway, the cutest little “Bess oo!” that you’ve ever heard rings out.
Unable to keep our composure, Ron and I explode in gales of laughter, yet attempting to remain silent so she won’t hear us.
No such luck – from the hallway comes, “Iss funny? Iss funny!” Becca thinks that we’ve forgotten about bedtime.
Unfortunately for her, we hadn’t. Although it took more than another half hour to get her finally to sleep. What finally worked? We had to get more stubborn than she was.
We ARE the adults after all. And I refuse to let a 2-year-old get the best of me. I stood outside her bedroom door and every time she approached the door, I opened it, scooped her up and deposited her back on her bed, without saying a word or looking at her.
Over and over again. Open door, scoop up squirming, screaming toddler, walk over to bed and put her down, turn around and leave the room closing door behind. Stand right outside door to repeat the process again in 2.5 seconds. When I finally got tired, Ron took over.
And we did it. We outlasted her. It took until 11:00 pm, but she finally fell asleep.
She’s going to be a tired, grouchy girl this morning again.
Hopefully, she won’t fight it so much tonight though.
But if she does, we’ll be ready.
I hope.
Edited to add: We Ron went through the same process again at 3:30 am when she crawled into bed with us. I was inclined to let her stay in the interest of getting some sleep, figuring that we’d tackle the bedtime issue first and then deal with middle of the night. Ron felt otherwise and fought with her for another good hour. That’s a long story too, that I’m not going into right now – but when we woke up this morning, Becca was asleep on the floor in the hallway outside her room (just across the hall from ours). And yet, she was a perfectly happy, non-grumpy little girl this morning. I wish I could say the same. LOL
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April 17th, 2008 at 5:05 am
ugh! aren’t 2s wonnnnnderful? lol
Dawn @ Coming to a Nursery Near You’s last blog post..an unfluffy post
April 17th, 2008 at 7:39 am
I am so impressed that you have finally started to get her under wraps. It will pay off…she is so smart, she has figured out how to play you two. It will probably get worse before it gets better. But you guys can do it. Things have been so much better around here since we started timing Aaron out for name calling and rewarding Noah for good behavior. Good Job and stick to your guns.
Kristi’s last blog post..Random Things
April 17th, 2008 at 8:06 am
I’ve been going through the same thing with Bossy well since he was two..and he’s almost four sigh. There’s been nights where I’ve held the door knob so he wouldn’t get out and wait and wait through the screaming. Your doing right by keeping routine and then placing her in bed over and over. This to shall pass eventually.
jean’s last blog post..A Long Time Ago…
April 17th, 2008 at 10:09 am
Way to go!
Trish’s last blog post..Bloggy Stuff
April 17th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Have you considered a baby gate? I’m not sure if she will climb it, but I did that with Diva for a while. Sounds like you guys are on the right track with the no talking and putting back in bed. Diva woke us up last night (1:30 a.m.) because she couldn’t sleep. I don’t know what she wants me to do about it then and I’m not very patient at 1:30 a.m. Finally I told her too bad, stay in bed, I don’t care if you sleep, I’m going back to bed. (Remember, she’s 5 1/2 now)
Debbie Yost’s last blog post..Playtime – HELP!
April 17th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Yikes! Not a fun night at all – I don’t do well on limited sleep
Becki’s last blog post..Thursday Thirteen – Seventh Edition
April 17th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Ah yes, Victoria is EXACTLY like Becca!
Amber’s last blog post..Wordless Wednesday
April 17th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Oh…I am sure that we are heading in the same direction:( Hopefully this is a quick phase and she starts going to bed better!
Wendy’s last blog post..Please Pray…UPDATED!!
April 17th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Oh, my dear, I know. I know!
I may have written about the restaurant fiascos, but the bedtime problems…ugh. I don’t have the energy. Thankfully, it seems to have passed and it only lasted about two weeks. So, I say to you, this too (TWO) will pass!
Momma Bean’s last blog post..Little Miss Home & Garden
April 17th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
OH HEAVENS…. she is really testing you guys. Do your best to be consistant, and stick to your plans.
hugs though…it is hard, and tiring.
Corey’s last blog post..Wordless Wednesday~ Escape
April 17th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Bedtime battles can be the worst – because everyone is tired! You did great! You are right, she needs to know that mommy and daddy mean business. Any battle you choose to fight, you have to win. I hope tonight goes better for you all!
MomOf3’s last blog post..Thank you Mama Zen!
April 17th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
You are one tough cookie!! Yay for you guys! I haven’t had to deal with that. My boys love bedtime and gladly sing the bedtime song while dancing to there rooms. Kudos to you both for sticking to it!
Tiff@Three Peas’s last blog post..Craft Project Thursday
April 17th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Ohhhhhh… this sounds so like Jacqui at that age
Just wait ’till her vocabulary expands (hee, hee!)
Childlife’s last blog post..Moooom!! Looook!! Have You Ever Seen Anything Like It… Or No?
April 17th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
It’s so cute, Lindsay likes to say Bless you too! It sounds so sweet!
Lindsay was so good about sleeping in her crib, until we moved her to her toddler bed. I like Tiff’s idea of a bedtime song.
Good for you guys for sticking to it!
Christine’s last blog post..Ok! So my Jaw Dropped yesterday and My Blog Anniversary Day 4
April 17th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
OH I hate bedtime battles. We’re finally past that. just stick to it and it’ll get better. I always found talking and arguing never worked silence made them mad, but had fewer battles. If you don’t get angry and just stay persistent eventually they cave. Dylan still wakes at night and I don’t handle that well at all. I need my sleep way too much.
Bethn’s last blog post..WW #2 Doggy B (mommy @ 4) and Doggy D
April 18th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Oh, I remember those days with my now 5 year old twins. It is so good that you are as stubborn as she is. I know how tough and exhausting it can be to have to be so firm, especially when you are ready to be off mommy duty and relax for a few minutes. Since you have other children you already know it will get better. I wish you luck.
Jen @ JenuineJen’s last blog post..Friday Fill-In
April 23rd, 2008 at 12:12 am
Too funny. You have more stamina and patience than I would have! My 2nd is going to be just like Becca when he gets to be her age. I’ll know who to turn to when I need advice!
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