Last night was Pea’s first night in her new bed, and it went pretty well. I was prepared to get no sleep at all, but since she refused to nap yesterday, she was absolutely exhausted when we put her down at 7:30. She sang to herself for a little while and then was silent. I was dying to peek in on her and make sure she was all tucked in and warm and cozy, but my gut (and my husband) told me “don’t you dare.” So, I didn’t.

About 5:00 this morning, we awoke to “mommy? mommy?” I looked over and there was Pea, standing next to my side of the bed. I took her back down to her room and got in bed with her, intending only to rub her head a little in the hopes that she’d fall back asleep. We both fell asleep. And when I woke up about an hour later, she was passed out, with her arm slung over my face. Then I fell back asleep and awoke about 7 to her kissing my face. Awesome.

But falling asleep with her in her bed is not how I want this whole new chapter of sleep to go for us. I’ve been very strict about sleep in the past, I am a firm believer in sleep training and I subscribe to Dr. Weissbluth’s process for achieving a well-rested family, found in his book “Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child.” I know that the cry it out method is not popular with everyone, but I say if it works for your family, than do it. And honestly, it works. Really well. So that’s how we’ve taught our girls to sleep.

But I was not prepared that I would have to re-train Pea now that she’s made the transition out of her crib. She did nap this afternoon, although she did it with her head at the opposite end of the bed from where I placed her pillow, and she refused to get under the covers but instead curled up with a light blanket over her. Big deal, right? She managed to sleep for 2 hours. And she surprised me again tonight when we put her down. She ventured out once to ask for “another hug” from my husband and myself. The second time she came out, she handed me my sneakers, which I’d left in her room. And so without a word, I picked her up and gently carried her back to bed, placed her in it, pulled up the covers and that was it. I didn’t say a word and didn’t make a fuss about it. She did a little singing and then… silence.

I might add here that my husband made a chart which he hung on the back of her bedroom door. When she follows the “sleep rules,” she gets to place a star on the date on the calendar of the chart. And then she gets a little treat. And please, don’t tell me that bribing my child is so wrong and how could I do this? I prefer to think of it as a reward system for following the rules. And really, do I need to tell you how hard it is to get a 2-year old to follow rules? It’s pretty darn difficult. So the fact that she gets the rules we’ve set out for our little family concerning sleep is pretty amazing, and so if for the next week or so I need to toss a little treat her way to reinforce this behavior? I’m going to do it. No way around it. We all need our sleep in this house.