Fugitive!!!!

Tuesday I put Abby down for a nap in the afternoon. She was screaming and carrying on, but I insisted on allowing her to "scream it out" because if she didn't take a nap, she would have been cranky for the sitter who would be watching her while I attended Lexi's dance class. After about 20 minutes, she got quiet so I thought she had gone to sleep. I proceeded to play a little Guitar Hero when all of a sudden Abby was standing at the baby gate. She had climbed out of her crib and came downstairs and had taken a spot as an audience member with her binky in her mouth and a blanket slung over her shoulder. I knew that things had just drastically changed.

Well tonight, I went to put her to bed and she immediately climbed out of the crib. This was not going to go well. I then recalled some sound advice from Super Nanny about getting difficult children to bed. Her "Going to Bed" technique goes like this,
* The first time he gets up, remind him that it’s bedtime, lead him back to
bed, give him a kiss and a cuddle, and leave the bedroom.

* The second time, do the same but use a firmer voice and make the kiss and
cuddle brief.

* The third and any subsequent times, say nothing at all as you lead him
back to bed, tuck him in, and leave the room. This is the hard part, and
it’s very tempting to give a cuddle. Remember that a gentle, consistent
approach will convince your child that you’re there for him, but that you
insist he sleep in his own bed.

I used this technique. I stood guard outside her door and for twenty minutes I felt like I belonged on the Super Nanny show. I followed the technique to the letter and after 20 minutes and over 20 times returning her to her bed, she finally gave up and went to bed. I felt quite accomplished because I have watched some episodes that it took the parents over two hours to get their unruly children in bed.

The funny part was that she seriously tried to outsmart me through all of this. I would be standing outside the door and hear her climb out of the crib. She'd tiptoe to the door and open it. When she saw me she'd try to make a run for it, but I'd scoop her up and return her to bed. I gotta tell ya...it was very hard to stick my ground when she looked so cute with her binky in her mouth and a blankie tossed over her shoulder. There were times when she'd open the door and (as I reached down to scoop her up) she'd make a run for it to a corner of her room as if she was going to find some escape within the confines of her room. Perhaps the funniest instance was the very last one. I stood outside of her door rather exasperated and wondering how long this was going to last when I heard her lower herself out of the crib for what seemed like the hundredth time. She tiptoed over to the door and when it opened she had the blankie over her head. I guess she thought that I wouldn't be smart enough to figure out that she was under the blankie. I returned her (with the blankie still over her head) to her bed and the was the last I heard from her.

Times are changin' as we move onto another phase of the unknown with this munchkin.