Sleep at last??????

After an agonising 5 weeks of Reuben staying up very late, disturbing his siblings and my husband and I not having any "down" time in the evenings, I took the decision to remove all of the toys from Reuben's room.

Harsh..I know!

As the endless sleepless evenings have gone on, I couldn't help but think there are just too many toys in his room. It resembles a play room rather than a bedroom.

So, last Thursday I started my quest to take all the toys out and store them else where (some in my living room, others hidden) I won't pretend it wasn't hard. In fact, it was heart breaking!

The more toys I moved, the more upset I became. I couldn't help but think that Reuben's room was starting to resemble a prison cell. With just his basic furniture and his books, it looked completely bare and lifeless.

I was dreading Reuben returning from school that afternoon to be greeted with this blank, dreary room.

My husband and I decided that we would try this route for a couple of nights and we would review it on Sunday.

As it turns out, Reuben wasn't really that upset by the sudden disappearance of his toys. Obviously he came running out to tell me that his toys were gone, saying "no more toys", "toys have gone".

I explained to Reuben that toys are for playing with downstairs and that his bedroom was for sleeping. He seemed to except this without any problem, which with Reuben was a shock as he hates change.

My husband and I were left gob smacked on the first night, as Reuben went to bed (usual bedtime routine) and  feel asleep before 10pm. In fact, he was fast asleep at 8pm....Result!!!!

The next couple of nights followed suit. Reuben went to sleep quite nicely, with no problems, shouting or playing and has gone straight to sleep. That was until last night, when Reuben decided to read his books until 9pm.

I am going to carry on with the "no toys in bedroom" strategy for another couple of nights. I know 9pm is late, but its a massive improvement compared to 10pm and the fact that he is sitting quietly reading books and not running around his room like a nutter, making as much noise as he possibly can is something I think I can deal with.

It still doesn't change the fact that I think his bedroom looks like a bare, unloved cell. And, I still have this huge feeling of guilt for taking his toys away, but I suppose it is a compromise to getting our evenings back and Reuben being more settled at night and not getting overly tired due to the lack of sleep.

My living room is now full of toys, I was hoping that we as a family were past this point where our house resembles a family with a load of toddlers, so it is something that will need to be addressed in time.

So, the question is...Sleep at last???  Only time will tell I suppose.