Comment

I read this post on dooce today and I had to comment.
Here is what I said regarding this issue:
We also used the Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child and like you I defend my son's crabbiness as NOT being because he's tired (unless for some reason, people are over and he really is tired/ready for bed). I LOVE this method. I HATED it when we were doing it, but I knew it would work. I tried some other techniques, but anytime I entered his room to "soothe" him his crying would get worse. It took us about 3 nights to get him to sleep from 7-7. (He was just over 4 months old.) Now he's 16 months and sleeps 7pm-6am and naps for almost 3 hours. I'd like to get him to sleep 'til 7am, but we've got to get out and get going in the morning. It's funny, because with the time change coming up I was reminded that we've been discussing when he sleeps/how he sleeps for a year now. (We recently went through a "re-train" with him waking up at 5am...but then thanks to you we put some tin foil on his window and that keeps him down until he hears Maggie, our dog, chomp down her food at 6am.) Some of my family (and some co-workers) think I'm crazy for having such a rigid schedule...but what they don't know is how much he loves it. At 6:30 every night he'll start to pick up his books/toys and walk to his room singing "pajama time" (usually without being told to get ready for bed). He can SENSE when it's time for bed and is HAPPY to get ready for the event. PLUS, I know exactly when to schedule pictures/doctors appointments because I know when his happy/awake times are.