Orin's New "Dog House"
>> Wednesday, September 26, 2007
I'm sitting here typing with two kids taking a nap - both without pacifiers! Damien and I have been dreading the day we decided to take Orin's passy away for over a year. Since birth, Orin has been very attached to it. Surprisingly to us, 
Micaiah has not, although he has used one since he was born. As Orin has gotten older he has gotten more and more attached. So our main motivation for getting rid of it right now was that the longer we wait, the harder it would be for him to adjust to sleeping without it. So, a week ago Sunday (September 16) we attempted his first nap without it. We also decided that we should take Micaiah's away so that Orin wouldn't have to suffer through watching Micaiah suck on one when he couldn't. And since Micaiah hasn't been very attached (lately he just throws it on the ground when we try to give it to him) we thought it would be an easy adjustment. For Micaiah's morning nap I nursed him as I always do before naps and he went down without a hitch. When it was time for the afternoon naps, we decided Orin should go first. There are so many ideas out there for taking away passy's - e.g. taking it and giving it away, cutting off the tip, having the child throw it into the trash, etc... - but we decided we were just going to tell Orin that it was time to start sleeping with no
passy's and if he took a nap without one we would go to the store and he could pick out whatever toy he wanted. As we read to him, rocked and sang before his nap, he asked for it quite a few times. And as soon as we put him down in bed he started to cry and tried to get up. We quickly shut the door and he continued to cry. After about 15 minutes we went in there to talk. I tried to lay on the floor next to the bed but he just wanted to lay on the floor with me and was just too excited to go to sleep. He asked for the pack-n-play so we brought it into his room. He got in it and we gave him books -but after about 30 minutes of reading he still couldn't sleep and he started calling for us. I think we would have let it go on for longer but Micaiah needed a nap and Damien wasn't feeling well and needed a nap too. And when you only have two rooms and three people trying to nap it doesn't work well. So I took Orin on a walk while Damien and Micaiah slept. Ori
n asked if we could go get his new toy and I reminded him that he didn't take a nap but if he took a nap the next day we would get one. I have to say that after this first day one thing I realized was that I was not committed to taking the passy away and decided that if he didn't take a nap for 3 days he was getting it back. :-) I really enjoying having that hour or two during the day to myself to get stuff done and to re-energize. So that night, after not having taken a nap Orin was pretty tired. As Damien rocked him we could tell that he looked a little worried. His hands were in his mouth the entire time and he knew he would have to sleep with no passy. He cried as we laid him down but after just a minute or two he was out! Thank you Lord! So on Monday I reminded Orin that if he took a nap we would go get a toy when he woke up. I even threw in a "You can watch Barney and have a cookie when you get up too!" I gave him a bunch of books in bed to read before going to sleep. He didn't cry but 30 minutes later he was still awake, walking around the room, and reading. But 15 minutes later it was done! He was asleep! These are times as a parent that I am reminded that no matter what I do it's God that decides how things go with our children. I know it's only by God's grace that Orin fell asleep. We actually had to wake him up fr
om his nap since it had taken him so long to fall asleep we didn't want him to sleep too late. When daddy came home we went to Toys-R-Us. Orin was so excited he couldn't decide. So we picked out five things and he was finally able to choose a Little People School Bus. But then as we were walking on another aisle he saw the doll houses. When we were in New Orleans he had a blast playing with Aunt Emily's old doll house. So we put the doll house next to the school bus and told him to choose. He emphatically said "I want the dog house!" So, he may not have the correct name for it, but he knew what he wanted. He and daddy put it together when we got home and he LOVES it. Actually, Micaiah really likes it too. Orin is funny because he'll put the people in the bath and have them at the computer but he'll also have them get on the roof and jump off. He's still all boy! So since that first nap Orin has been able to take every nap. My biggest issue has been getting them both to take naps at the same time. I normally put Micaiah down and then put Orin down about 20 minutes later once Micaiah is sleeping. But without the p
assy, Orin takes longer to go to sleep. Unfortunately he is usually restless or wants to read books which has waken up Micaiah every day. A few days I've let Micaiah take his nap before I put Orin down but I really miss having even 30minutes to myself. Monday I even tried to put Orin down first and then Micaiah. But that back-fired. Micaiah often cries for about 15 seconds after I put him down (which he did in this instance) and Orin woke up. But today I finally got them down together. Micaiah was pooped because he didn't have a morning nap and I sat at the door and every time Orin made noise I went in. It's good to have some time to myself. Sleeping time is definitely one of the hardest parts of living in such a small space. But I'm so proud of my little boy - he is so adaptable and surprises us every time! Interspersed are pictures of Orin playing with his "Dog house" and him sleeping during his first nap with no passy!
Micaiah has not, although he has used one since he was born. As Orin has gotten older he has gotten more and more attached. So our main motivation for getting rid of it right now was that the longer we wait, the harder it would be for him to adjust to sleeping without it. So, a week ago Sunday (September 16) we attempted his first nap without it. We also decided that we should take Micaiah's away so that Orin wouldn't have to suffer through watching Micaiah suck on one when he couldn't. And since Micaiah hasn't been very attached (lately he just throws it on the ground when we try to give it to him) we thought it would be an easy adjustment. For Micaiah's morning nap I nursed him as I always do before naps and he went down without a hitch. When it was time for the afternoon naps, we decided Orin should go first. There are so many ideas out there for taking away passy's - e.g. taking it and giving it away, cutting off the tip, having the child throw it into the trash, etc... - but we decided we were just going to tell Orin that it was time to start sleeping with no
passy's and if he took a nap without one we would go to the store and he could pick out whatever toy he wanted. As we read to him, rocked and sang before his nap, he asked for it quite a few times. And as soon as we put him down in bed he started to cry and tried to get up. We quickly shut the door and he continued to cry. After about 15 minutes we went in there to talk. I tried to lay on the floor next to the bed but he just wanted to lay on the floor with me and was just too excited to go to sleep. He asked for the pack-n-play so we brought it into his room. He got in it and we gave him books -but after about 30 minutes of reading he still couldn't sleep and he started calling for us. I think we would have let it go on for longer but Micaiah needed a nap and Damien wasn't feeling well and needed a nap too. And when you only have two rooms and three people trying to nap it doesn't work well. So I took Orin on a walk while Damien and Micaiah slept. Ori
n asked if we could go get his new toy and I reminded him that he didn't take a nap but if he took a nap the next day we would get one. I have to say that after this first day one thing I realized was that I was not committed to taking the passy away and decided that if he didn't take a nap for 3 days he was getting it back. :-) I really enjoying having that hour or two during the day to myself to get stuff done and to re-energize. So that night, after not having taken a nap Orin was pretty tired. As Damien rocked him we could tell that he looked a little worried. His hands were in his mouth the entire time and he knew he would have to sleep with no passy. He cried as we laid him down but after just a minute or two he was out! Thank you Lord! So on Monday I reminded Orin that if he took a nap we would go get a toy when he woke up. I even threw in a "You can watch Barney and have a cookie when you get up too!" I gave him a bunch of books in bed to read before going to sleep. He didn't cry but 30 minutes later he was still awake, walking around the room, and reading. But 15 minutes later it was done! He was asleep! These are times as a parent that I am reminded that no matter what I do it's God that decides how things go with our children. I know it's only by God's grace that Orin fell asleep. We actually had to wake him up fr
om his nap since it had taken him so long to fall asleep we didn't want him to sleep too late. When daddy came home we went to Toys-R-Us. Orin was so excited he couldn't decide. So we picked out five things and he was finally able to choose a Little People School Bus. But then as we were walking on another aisle he saw the doll houses. When we were in New Orleans he had a blast playing with Aunt Emily's old doll house. So we put the doll house next to the school bus and told him to choose. He emphatically said "I want the dog house!" So, he may not have the correct name for it, but he knew what he wanted. He and daddy put it together when we got home and he LOVES it. Actually, Micaiah really likes it too. Orin is funny because he'll put the people in the bath and have them at the computer but he'll also have them get on the roof and jump off. He's still all boy! So since that first nap Orin has been able to take every nap. My biggest issue has been getting them both to take naps at the same time. I normally put Micaiah down and then put Orin down about 20 minutes later once Micaiah is sleeping. But without the p
assy, Orin takes longer to go to sleep. Unfortunately he is usually restless or wants to read books which has waken up Micaiah every day. A few days I've let Micaiah take his nap before I put Orin down but I really miss having even 30minutes to myself. Monday I even tried to put Orin down first and then Micaiah. But that back-fired. Micaiah often cries for about 15 seconds after I put him down (which he did in this instance) and Orin woke up. But today I finally got them down together. Micaiah was pooped because he didn't have a morning nap and I sat at the door and every time Orin made noise I went in. It's good to have some time to myself. Sleeping time is definitely one of the hardest parts of living in such a small space. But I'm so proud of my little boy - he is so adaptable and surprises us every time! Interspersed are pictures of Orin playing with his "Dog house" and him sleeping during his first nap with no passy!
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