Sleep Interrupted

I knew it was coming. There is really only a brief window of time where you can have your toddler in a bed without rails before they realize, "Hey, there is nothing stopping me from climbing out of this bed whenever I want!"

And if I am being completely honest, it's really my fault. I am, after all, the one that showed her and yes, even encouraged her to get out all by herself. This is because she has started waking up at night to go the bathroom. Although I am proud of her for waking up dry, I do not enjoy being woken from a deep sleep to the wailing of a two year old,

"Mommmmeeeeee, I have to go pee pee!" She would sit in her bed crying until I came in to get her. Once she figured out that I was responding to that request, she started also waking up complaining of thirst and asking me to refill the sippy cup of water that we were allowing her to sleep with.

Waking up multiple times a night with a two year old? In these my last few months of good sleep for the foreseeable future? Not going to fly around here.

So, we set up shop in the upstairs bathroom. With a little footstool rearranging, I put the tallest stool in front of her sink allowing her to be able to turn on and off the water by herself, a Dora potty seat was put on top of the toilet seat (she will still only go by herself with a potty seat), with another stool so she can climb up herself and to solve the thirst problem, and a plastic cup next to the sink for all her drinking needs.

I told her, repeatedly, that it was okay to get up to get a drink or go potty, but those were the only reasons it's was okay to get up. Of course the moment we put in her bed that night, she was up for a drink. She got right back in bed, however, so it wasn't that bad. It was a couple of nights before she happened to peek into Little Man's room and spotted him sitting up in bed quietly playing with his Handy Manny tools (which yes, sleep with him and he often plays quietly with them for a few minutes before falling into dreamland).

A little light bulb went off her head. She didn't want to go to sleep, she wanted to stay up and play. I explained to her that Little Man was also in bed and it was time for her to go to bed. After a couple of times of sending her back in, she informed me,

"Mommy, I brought my special cars to bed with me to play with."

I firmly said, "It's not time for playing it's time for sleeping."

Without missing a beat, she replied,

"Mommy, I brought my special cars to bed with me to SLEEP with."

Oh, well. As long as she stays in there. Which she has done pretty well the last couple of nights. And oh? The late night potty breaks? She now gets up out of her bed by herself, walks to the bathroom and then calls,

"Mommmeeeee, I need to go pee pee!"