Sleep training...

...or rather the way NOT to put your kids to sleep.

We have started some kind of sleep training with Zach. I have maintained his night routine with bath, reading, milk and then sleep. I have moved his reading and milk time to his own room. When we finish reading time, we head to our room and I tuck him in, say our nightly prayer with him and kiss him good night. I walk away in hopes that he doesn't get out of bed or wake Amelia up. (Amelia sleep in her cot that is "side-car"-ed to our queen which has been extended on the other side by a single bed)

The first night was difficult. He balled his eyes out and started saying things like, "mummy, you naughty", "mummy need go naughty chair". That's really tough especially when we have tried never to let him cry unnecessarily. He ended up sleeping at 10:30pm after numerous times of in and out of bed.

The second night was a little better. We had family over and he didn't cry but we trooped back and forth from the bed. He slept at 9:45pm.

The third night, he did the whole in and out again AND stayed up until I went to bed at 10pm.

The fourth night, which was last night, was okay. At one point, he wanted to sleep with his grandparents. So, I said my good nights to him and after awhile, he walked out of their room to go sleep in our room. He still did the in and out of bed about 7 (?) times but was asleep by 9pm.

Tonight, he is still awake at 8:50pm but has only been out of bed three times. The night is still young and he might still climb out of bed.

Despite the whole climbing in and out of bed, he has been generally really quiet and very conscious about his baby sister sleeping in bed. I count that a BIG step forward in his sleep training despite it doesn't actually involve him sleeping. Amelia hasn't been disturbed once in the last few days. (The first night, Khoa was holding Amelia outside in the living room)

Who knows how long this process is going to take?