plan b

The frogs worked (somewhat) for three days. As soon as I dared to contemplate their success in writing, Sawyer decided to pay them no mind.
He's been up before six all this week, in and out of his room countless times.
Time for a new plan. One that I'm not happy about.

When he got up this morning, I tucked him back in bed, reminded him one time that I needed him to stay in bed until the froggies woke up, and parked myself in the rocking chair in his bedroom. I sat there in the dark and any time he started getting out of bed, I simply said "In Bed" and he'd crawl right back in the blankets. We did this about five times over the next 45 minutes. Then his frogs clicked on and I jumped out of the chair to meet him in his bed, acting all awake and excited, "Good Morning! It's morning time! The frogs are awake, would you like to wake up now Sawyer? Good Morning!" And we went downstairs all excited it was morning.
Yeah right. I'm a good actress.

Anyway. My plan is to repeat that again tomorrow morning. And then the next morning, if he gets up early at his favorite ungodly hour, I'll be parking myself right outside his bedroom door. Every time (if) he comes out of his room again, I'll be right there waiting for him, wordlessly planting him back in his bed. Repeat probably fifteen times before it's time for the frogs to wake up. We'll see.
I'm hoping eventually he'll get tired of it, learn that he's getting no reaction from us, no reward (like one of us laying with him, which we break down and do some of those especially early mornings) and no fun until the frogs turn on. Hopefully he'll just eventually stop bothering to get up until they do. And hopefully he'll then start actually sleeping until then. Because this kid is having a hard time functioning for a full day when he wakes up at 5 AM. (I'm mean and I won't let him compensate at naps or an earlier bedtime!)

I'm at least thankful he always goes to bed so easily. And he doesn't get up during the night. Savannah went through a phase of that at about this same age. She'd been sleeping in a big bed great for a few months and then all of a sudden she'd be awake in the middle of the night and want to be playing or roaming the house. We tried everything we could think of and then we had to break down and camp (well, Ryan did it... I was pregnant at the time so he let me stay asleep in our bed) out in the hallway in front of her bedroom door from about 1-3am every night for about a week. Ryan would have made up a bed of pillows and blankets and every time he heard her open her door, or hear the light click on under the crack of her door, he'd silently get up, put her back in her bed, not saying a word, not getting mad, not threatening, not anything... just plopped her back in bed and went straight back to his bed in the hall. Repeat, repeat, repeat. And repeat, repeat, repeat. And repeat, repeat, repeat. And you get the picture. I don't remember how long it took, maybe four or five nights of that? And then she only got up once or twice, and then she never got up again.
So I'm hoping that same thing will work in these early mornings with Sawyer. I don't know that he'll actually go back to sleep most of these mornings, but I'm hoping with no reaction/attention from us at all, except to silently plop him back in his bed, he'll eventually stay put until it's really morning and as long as he's staying there, I'm thinking he'll eventually get more sleep.
I'm hoping.