UPDATE:
Thank you for all your advice. It was so encouraging and means a lot to us. We have started the bedtime routine earlier and are using some of the other strategies that were mentioned. She is still very difficult to put to bed, but is starting to fall asleep easier and faster than before. Thanks for your continued support and prayers for Paige and Mark and I.
I know you are all probably sick of hearing my Paige troubles. You have troubles of your own, but I truly cherish the wisdom of friends and right now, I don't know what to do. We have been having trouble putting Paige to bed for a while now. She won't stay in her room and does naughty things when she is supposed to be sleeping. We've tried all kinds of consequences and nothing really seems to curb the behavior.
At first, I thought it was because she had been taking naps and just wasn't tired. So, she doesn't take naps anymore, but still, the nighttime routine lasts for HOURS. Here's the low down. We start getting her ready for bed around 8pm. We go to the bathroom, brush teeth, get jammies on, read, pray, and sing. Then, the meltdown begins. She started crying hysterically when we try to leave the room. I mean, literal screams, and general hysteria. Awhile back, we put Casey(our dog) in the room with her, so she wouldn't feel "alone". It seemed to help for a time, but now nothing consoles her. If we go into her room she latches onto our necks so tight, and won't let go. It really is heartbreaking! We use a fan for noise, and we've tried with and without the nightlight (with works better). Last night, I tried putting music on for her, and she cried that it was too loud and hurt her ears. (It was NOT loud and could barely be heard over the fan.) She carries on for hours.
I've considered moving Alaina into her room in hopes that she will understand that she has to be quiet and stay in her bed so Alaina can sleep. We tried it tonight with Alaina in the pack and play. Paige still left the room and cried when we left. We ended up taking Alaina out. Alaina's such a good sleeper that we don't want to ruin her. Paige was even more hysterical when Alaina went back to her own room. I tried to explain to her why and that if she could show us that she could be quiet and stay in her bed, then we would try it again tomorrow night.
Tonight Mark and I said good night and didn't go downstairs. Instead, we sat on the stairs where she couldn't see us, so we would know exactly what was happening. Paige was hysterical and came out into the hall and cried there for about 20 minutes. After a half hour she finally gave up and was in her bed and quiet. She did wake up crying an hour later, but was consoled after about 5 minutes. I actually feel good about this. We'll try it again tomorrow night and see what happens.
My other dillemma, is that she wakes up at least once, usually twice or three times, just crying uncontrollably in the night. I can't ever get her to tell me what's the matter and after a couple minutes of talking to her or singing to her, she calms down and falls back to sleep. Every now and again before we put her to bed she mentions scary shadows. What?!
Does anyone have any similar experience with kids? What did you do? Am I doing the right thing? Is there anything else I can try? I just don't want to force her to stay in her room by herself if she really is scared, but how do you deal with that? Please pray for wisdom for Mark and I, but also for Paige and whatever it is that she is going through.
