Where to Sleep

Jayden’s bedtime used to be 8pm. He would go to his room and play for a little while before falling asleep, by 9pm. Then when I transitioned Maya to the room, I started to keep Jayden up a little later so I can Maya off to sleep first. That pushed Jayden’s bedtime to anywhere between 9 and 9:30pm. Well, then he developed an obsession with Blues Clues. And Blues Clues starts promptly at 9:30pm on Noggin which he quickly discovered after running late a few times with Maya so then Jayden’s bedtime became 9:50pm, immediately after Blues Clues. Then came the Olympics and I lost total control of the situation. Now, Jayden is up to all hours of the night and things are getting worse.

Jayden used to sleep with me and when Esteban came home from work, he would move Jayden to his bed. Lately Jayden has decided not to sleep with me anymore and as soon as I turn off the TV, he says “I go with Maya.” I won’t mention that I am to the point where I feel like I need him to fall asleep. Anyway, now Jayden has started a new trend. Now he goes back and forth between his bed and my bed. I am guessing he does this until he’s exhausted and falls asleep. The other night, I was dying and it was 11pm and he was still awake. He came to bed and was trying to initiate play. I told him it was time for bed and when he saw I was serious, he said he would go with Maya. Great. Before you know it, he’s going back and forth. Finally, I’m p/o’d and I tell him “TIME FOR BED!” Things got quiet and I fell asleep.

Next thing you know, I wake up because I hear noise and I realize that Jayden is still awake and playing, in the dark, in the living room. Grrrrr! Now, I am instituting a strict 10pm bedtime and I’m putting the gate up. He’s not happy, but things are out of control and I feel like I have to take control of the situation.