We Had A Good Run

The time I have been dreading has come. Maddie has started climbing over the crib rail and cracking her door open, looking for escape. Today when Corey gets home from work he will turn the crib into a toddler bed. I worried all night that she would break her arm when she hit the floor after launching herself over the rail. I have said many times that I will not let my child cry it out, no matter the age. So, for awhile there we were going back into Maddie's room every 10 minutes to sing another song, give another kiss, etc, for an hour until she finally went to sleep. I was tired of that, so a little over a month ago I put my foot down and brought that habit to an abrupt stop (without letting her cry herself into an exhausted slumber...yes, it's possible). We have had a good run with easy bedtime. After reading some books and singing some songs, I only had to go back into her room one time each night, and that was to get her up for her last potty (she goes before she gets into bed, but she always needs to go one more time). That's it. It still would take her awhile to fall asleep, but she never called us back in there after her "last potty". Bedtime was so easy. I watch "Supernanny", and I am shocked by the bedtime scenes, with the kids screaming and getting out of bed hundreds of times, the mothers sometimes having to sit on the floor in their room near the door, to keep them from screaming. And I thought, thank heavens I don't have to go through that. We have it easy. Well, toddler bed and Maddie running amok at bedtime, here we come.