Solo Parenting the Less-Sick Toddler, Day 2 of 5

[kate_nepveu]

I don't actually intend to post every day, but after last night's vent I figured I should say that she's much better today, enough so that I sent her to daycare for three hours in the afternoon with a clear conscience and will actually go to work tomorrow.

Comments

[chomiji]

Yeah, the routine thing. Ours was a story and then 2 songs (no more, no less, and she got to pick them once she was old enough to remember/say the names) in the rocking chair in her room, and then being tucked into the crib with a little prayerlike chant of "Mommy loves you, Daddy loves you, Granny and Pop-pop love you, Grandma loves you ... ." (Eventually extended to every relative she saw on a regular basis - still, it only took a minute or two.)

It finished up with "Night-night, sleep tight," lights off, door closed. She got one return visit if she fussed (no picking her up on the return visit unless she obviously needed physical attention, like a diaper change) and then that was it. It mostly worked (say, 80% of the time, gradually increasing to 100% by age 3 or so.)

[kouredios]

As with many other commenters, routine--but also frequently snuggling until she fell asleep, at that age. She got to a point where I could just sit in the other end of her room and play with my DS while she fell asleep, but I think that was a little later. Now she's 5, and except for a few extra trips to the bathroom on particularly clingy nights, she goes to bed just fine.