Nighttime Independence
I only have a few minutes to write while I wait for some analysis to run on another computer, but I had to blog about this -- last night, for the first time, Rowan got up in the middle of the night, went potty, had a sip of water, went back into his room, closed his door, got back in bed, and went back to sleep! All without disturbing his parents! Amazing? I think so.
This nighttime independence started while he and I were visiting Memphis a couple of weeks ago. At Grammy Sue and Papaw's house, there's no "baby monitor". So unlike at home when Rowan knew he could just start yelling and a parent would appear because they heard him on the monitor, yelling at Grammy Sue and Papaw's house was likely to accomplish little more than making Jake the Lab bark like crazy. So instead, at bedtime, Rowan practiced getting out of his bed, coming out of his room, crossing the hall, and coming into my room if he needed me in the middle of the night. He didn't need me in the middle of the night, but each morning I awoke to the sound of my door opening and tiny footsteps walking over to my bed. Then he would whisper, "I did it! I am here to get you!"
I realized that being woken up this way was far more pleasant than waking up to a shouting, "Mommy!" MOMMY! I want some warm milk," which had been our wake-up call for a long time now. So when we got home we put away the baby monitor and explained the situation to Rowan, who grasped it immediately. There's one difference: at home he has been coming into our room once (sometimes more) in the middle of each night asking to be taken to the potty. I knew he goes potty unassisted all day, so he could go at night too.
So last night at bedtime we practiced (twice!), with all the lights out, him getting out of bed, going potty, coming back into his room, shutting his door, and going back to bed. And, according to him, he DID IT in the middle of the night. Now he's been through with nighttime pull-ups for several months, and last night marks a bittersweet but overall wonderful accomplishment on his path to self-reliance. And, we'll get more sleep too! :)
