Little T

Tristan is coming up on 2. In a short few weeks the big day will arrive and Ive noticed a few things since our arrival to the new house.

First off ---bedtime routine. Now sleeping isnt one of Tristans favorite pastimes, nor is it an easy road we travel each night. And infact when we moved in with Mom last year, we created a monster. It was easier for us to try and have Tristan self soothe, and calm down and we did this by putting in baby einstein DVD's for him to watch and listen to as he fell asleep. It was so successful ( 90%) of the time, that when we didnt have a TV for him to watch our nighttime routine fell apart quickly. Once he started talking, he would demand "show!" until you either put one on, or in the case of not having a TV next to his crib, he would cry and cry and ultimately ended up on your lap watching a movie till he fell asleep.

When we moved to our new house, I was bound and determined to stop the madness. However I underestimated the the effects of the move on Tristan as far as his crib went

SEE Im a firm believer of keeping children restrained, confined, and generally SAFE at all times. Since we had climber- it necessitated the crib tent. It worked well. He couldnt wander the house nor hurt himself should he fall out of the crib. Well when we moved, we didnt get that re-set up quickly enough and he had a hard time adjusting to his room. So we did what any parent would do to avoid the crying fits of a toddler. GIVE IN. It started with him falling asleep in our bed and then we would move him to his room. Well, now Tristan tends to wake up as we are transferring him from our bed- EK to his bed and insists on sleeping on the toddler bed. Now there are nights that I can have him start on the toddler bed, and stay there till I move him, but its always a crap shoot. Id have to say that Tristan is having his say and letting us know- that he doesnt not LIKE his crib huh? Makes sense to me! All this sleep anywhere but his crib business!

The 2nd thing that is changing around our place is his BINKY!!! After a dentist appointment that told me his bite is being affected, and if not stopped( his binky use) could lead to serious dental problems we decided to try and go cold turkey. This hasnt been the easiest road either. Much of the first 18 months of his life was spent ill with one cold, ear infection, etc after another and he developed a serious habit of never being without his pacifier. So much so that he had a preference for color( same brand, just different colors) and we had to have them strategically placed throughout the house. For heaven help us if we didnt have one when he wanted it, or it fell out during the night!! ( I will say there is nothing more annoying than him waking up after dropping his pacifier out, cant find it around the crib, and searching the house in a sleep walk and unable to find a replacement!) SOOO Jonathan and I decided that we would just tell him that he was going to be "2" soon- a big boy and that big boys dont have binkies. So far that has been working. He has thrown a fit or two, cried for it, and actually found one that he refused to give up- but after he fell asleep- we took and hes been doing fine since. We are day 3 into the no binky rule, and I think that this time...the PARENTS might have won a round!