Ella doesn't like going to bed at night. It's been a change over the past year or so from baby to toddler and it's been tough to adapt for all of us. We've tried following the suggestions to keep her in her room, not bring her to bed with us, and to let her soothe herself to sleep with a regular nighttime routine. For you regular readers, it's no surprise, what we've received in return are some sleepless nights with HOURS of screaming and crying from the parents, as well as the child.
It's excruciating to hear your child cry out for you and not immediately answer that call. I can only do it, because I hope I'm training her to be self sufficient, and able to sleep on her own. But it's the hardest thing I've ever done in my life and I hate every single second of it. It literally reduces me to tears, sitting there, listening to her scream, and waiting for that clock to tick off the interval until I can go in again, even for just a few seconds.
She's been asking the dogs to come in and snuggle with her at bedtime, while we read stories, 
etc... they usually do this anyway, but just this week, she asked me to let Doodle stay while she napped in the afternoon. For those of you who haven't met our dogs, they're not small. Daisy (or Doodle Doo as we usually call her) is an 80 pound yellow lab/ golden retriever mix. Lola is a 45 pound husky/ shepherd mix. They're wonderful, protective, sweet girls and they love these babies to death. But they're also very active. They run, play, and jump at almost every creak or crack that might be heard. They normally sleep in our bedroom, on dog beds at the 
foot of our bed. It's taken Troy some real patience to adapt to this, but he's learned to ignore their scratching, dreaming, and snorting throughout the night. Getting them to lie still so a little girl can sleep is a whole new ballgame.
I tried it Friday afternoon, when Ella asked, and they just wouldn't go for it. First of all, Daisy was in there alone. Lola wanted to eat, so Daisy just whined at the door for 30 minutes until I let her out. Of course, Ella was heartbroken. I had to convince her she hadn't done anything wrong, this was just something we'd have to work on, to "teach" the doggies how to stay in her room. We'd ask Daddy for help this weekend.
So I mentioned it to Troy and we decided to give it a whirl. We tried this afternoon, and again, after about 30 minutes, they wanted out, so we opened the door and broke Ella's heart again. I explained again, that we were "teaching" them, and it's hard to learn something new, so we'd try again tonight.
Bedtime came, she asked for them and even closed the door when she went to potty and brush her teeth, so they wouldn't get away. We left them and Troy even coaxed them up onto her bed for snuggling. They didn't stay up there long. We heard her several times calling them, calming them down and getting settled herself. But they all got quiet, within about 30 minutes. A couple of hours later when Troy went to get the dogs for a bathroom break, they were waiting at the door, but Ella was sound asleep!!! Yippee!
Here's my theory and no, I'm not an expert, just a mom who's thought about this over many sleepless, scream-filled nights: Ella is incredibly social. (can't imagine where she gets that) Most nights when she doesn't want to go to sleep or doesn't want to stay in her room alone, she simply wants someone to talk to and play with. She will wind herself down, but she hates doing it alone. If I'd stay with her, eventually she'd go to sleep, but she'd drive me nuts first! I try to close my eyes, but she'll poke them, pretend she's a princess with a "magic kiss" to wake me up, etc... She just loves the companionship. Maybe those dogs are our answer. As long as they're in the room with her, she's not alone. I hate to think she's lonely in there. If the dogs can give her that comfort to find peaceful sleep at night, I'd know there was reason for re-seeding our backyard each year and spending $40 a month on dog food for sensitive stomachs.
They are her best friends, especially Doodle. I don't know why we didn't think about this sooner. I guess I worried that they'd all 3 keep one another awake. I did tell her tonight, that if the dogs weren't resting, the best thing to do, was to pretend to be asleep. I said, " If they think you're up playing, they'll want to play with you. If you're sleeping, they'll want to snuggle and sleep too." Who knows, maybe it worked, maybe it's a fluke?.
No if we can get them to go back in there, and spend the night so she'll have that comfort when/ if she wakes up, we're in business. I won't hold my breath, but what a Mother's Day gift that would be!
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