Battle #1 Accomplished! (Knock on Wood!)

So, I think we have finally conquered one of our battles with Avery. I don't want to jinx it, but we have been having REALLY good luck with Battle Numero Uno: The Bed.

After my rant of a post, I started googling "My child won't sleep Alone", "2 year old can't fall asleep with parent laying down", "HELP toddler does not sleep!!!", etc, etc...

I came across a parent blog with my same scenario's. I started reading and one page that had three ways of putting your toddler down:

1. Tuck them in and leave the room. Let them cry it out.
    ...We tried this for 4 days. Avery threw tantrums of the century. Knocking over furniture, throwing herself into the door, hitting herself, etc. The tantrums would last almost two hours and we would end up just sleeping with her. THIS WAS A BIG FAIL!

2. Lay with them until they fall asleep, then sneak out.
    .....DO NOT DO THIS! This was what led us up to this! Avery COULD NOT fall asleep without us and when we would finally sneak out, she would wake up multiple times for us to start the process all over again. I felt like we had a newborn again! THIS AGAIN WAS A BIG FAIL!

3. Tuck them in and let them know you will be back to check on them.
    .....So the theory behind this was to give your child a hug and kiss and tuck them in. Ensure them that you will come back every few minutes to check on them. Start at 2 minutes and work your way up until they fall asleep. We were up for anything at this point, so we tried.

The first night was a bit tough.

(We figured she was TERRIBLY AFRAID of the dark. We put dimmers in her room and kept her lights on at the lowest point PLUS a dimmed lamp on a table.)

She freaked out for a while. We started checking back at 2 minutes, then 5 minutes, then 10 minutes..... I believe it took us 6 tries to get her to finally fall asleep. She woke up three times in the middle of the night. I would try our method again, but by 3 AM I was exhausted and finally ended up in her bed again.

That next day I set out to buy her a princess bed. (Or make it feel that way atleast.) I found an inexpensive Disney Princess bedding set at Smith's Marketplace and put it all together. She was SUPER excited. (Especially about the princesses on her pillow!)

That night went much better. I refused to sleep in her bed again. I had to put my foot down. It took us about a week, but she is finally sleeping through the night on her OWN! AND, AND, AND it only takes us two check in's to tuck her in! She is asleep within 10 minutes!! YAY!!

I think, for Avery atleast, she was scared of the dark, being alone and scared we were leaving her. Once we were able to convince her we were in the next room and we would come back to check on her, she was more comfortable by herself!

In fact, this past Monday, Avery woke me up at midnight. She came in my room and told me her bed was wet. (Her sippy somehow leaked all over.) Once we got her bed fresh and dry, she said goodnight mommy and went back to sleep.

I'm so proud of our munchkin. This was a REALLY tough battle, but we got through it! Hallelujah!