I am counting down the days til summer starts. With everything going on at work due to the teachers strike, I am ready to relax. Before that can happen we need to get Evie used to sleeping in her packnplay. Previous trips recently have not gone so well when it comes to her getting sleep and therefor we do not get sleep. It is not a good situations. Last summer it was not a problem having her sleep in it. You can imagine this is adding some stress as I have been very worried that she will not sleep, and that it may quickly become a nightmare when we go on vacation.
So what do you do? I asked a few friends, and they all recommended that we pull out the packnplay and have her start sleeping in it now for naps and bedtime. For the recent trips we tried the bed sheets we have for it, but that did not help. We also tried putting her stuffies in it to make it a bit more welcoming. Nope. She was not having any of it. We started “Operation get toddler to sleep in packnplay” yesterday.
I set it up in her room, her room is small so it had to go right beside her crib. I put her stuffies in it again so she had her red panda. First up was nap time. I went through her normal routine and put her in the packnplay. She was a bit teary but quickly curled up with her panda and went to sleep for her nap. Wahoo!
Bed time though, oh bed time. Evie has recently become very clingy and only wants me at bedtime. She gets very upset, does not want to be put in her crib even. So I was worried that things would not go well at bed time. I was right. I went through the usual bed time routine, but I had Jason stay with her and read another book. She was not happy with me. I feel it needed to be done though, she needs to know that her Daddy is also always her for her, and loves her to pieces. She did thankfully settle and did go to sleep in the packnplay.
Today was day 2. Nap time today was more of a battle. Daddy put her down for a nap but she was not wanting anything to do with going to sleep. I got home after Jason tried to get her to go for her nap. Apparently he heard her playing and talking away over the baby monitor. Eventually I went up to check on her, she signed and asked for a bottle and a diaper change. So we went through the nap time routine again and she finally settled down and had a very small nap. At least she had a bit of a nap in the packnplay. I guess that counts as a small victory.
Again bed time was a source of tears. She only wanted Mommy. This time we both stayed in the room. She sat on my lap and we read her the bed time stories she wanted. I kissed and hugged her good night, and so did Jason. He got her into the packnplay. Thankfully the tears were very short loved when she settled down to go to sleep. But the tears when she wants only me… it’s so sad to see.
How do we encourage her that its okay for Mommy or Daddy to do the bed time routine with her? Did your little one go through a period of clinginess around 17-18months? I have had a few people mention that their kids did the same thing at this age, and that she is right on track for it. If your little one went through this, how long did it last?
Oh… We also use one of the typical packnplays. A few friends recommended the Phil&Teds Traveller as a better sleep option. Do any of you have one of these? Do you like it? I am really liking how small it packs up and how light it is. That would be so useful for future trips. I also had several people mention the 4moms Breeze do any of you have that? What are your thoughts on it? I wasn’t really thinking of switching our packnplay, but if one of these really is that much better than the old classic style. Maybe I should consider selling that one and getting one of these.
