Night 1 in the Crib

Our son will be 15 months in 2 weeks and has not yet slept a single night in his crib. Let me elaborate on that a little bit. His crib is in his room on the other side of the house. He does currently sleep in his playpen, which is in our room. I'd like to say we have tried very hard to get him to sleep in his own room. Truth be told, we have only tried once for less than an hour and it was horrible. So I mentally prepared myself all day for his first night in his own room, which should have been tonight.

I knew it was going to take a lot more than laying him down, him putting his thumb in his mouth, and quietly falling asleep shortly after, which is what currently happens when we lay him into his playpen. So after dinner we played for a few hours, running around the house and making sure no area was left clean. Then it was bath time. After his bath, we brushed our teeth, I put Eli into his pajamas, massaged his sweet little hands and feet, and read him a book. Then it was time to lay down.

As soon as he realized he was going into the crib he began screaming. So I did what I am sure several of you have done or will do at some point. I hopped in too. I brought a ball and a few books, but he was more interested in carrying them around than reading them. He was showing no signs of exhaustion, then as I started to wonder how long I would be waiting it out in his crib he rubbed his eyes. Yes! So I lay him down, hopped back out of the crib and lay beside it. Of course he jumped right back up and began playing again, all the while peeking over to make sure I was still around.

I managed to sneak out. When he realized I was gone he cried, but it was that weak type of cry that they have when they are fighting just to keep their eyes open. I stood near his door while he cried, just out of view and after about 3 painful minutes he fell asleep. *does dance*

That was short lived.

Just as I was about to claim victory, he woke up and screamed the most horrible scream. His smiles melt my heart and his cries break it. What can I say?

Needless to say I scooped him right out of that crib, squeezed him for a little while, laid him into the playpen, and he fell right to sleep. We'll try again tomorrow.