Stalling Falling Asleep Alone

Shortly after Dexter transferred to a big boy bed about a year ago, he started to have trouble falling asleep alone in his room. He insisted that Mommy or Daddy stay in the room and "take care" of him. The care-taking involved nothing more than our mere presence until he fell asleep. When Dexter began asking for a Puppy Dream Light I thought this might be the opportunity to transition him to falling asleep by himself. For the past few weeks, when Dexy brought up that he asked Santa for a Puppy Dream Light, Daddy and I would get very excited and say things like, "That will be great when you have a Dream Light! Then you can fall asleep with your Dream Light on and you won't need Mommy or Daddy to stay with you! You'll have your Dream Light to help you fall asleep!"

Last night was the test of whether or not this method would work. Dexter got ready for bed and we set up the Puppy Dream Light that Santa brought him in his room. Dexter was excited to fall asleep all by himself, even telling Mommy and Daddy that we could leave after tucking him in. Within two minutes, he was out of his room saying he was thirsty. We gave him a drink of water and shuffled him back to bed. The scene was repeated about a half a dozen times with various stalling techniques (my favorite of which was, "Daddy, I  have a surprise I want to show you," while scanning the room for something to give to Daddy as a "surprise"). We just kept patient through it all and ushered him back to him bed. The last time, I told him that I believed he could do it and that Mommy and Daddy would be right in the kitchen.  And he did it!  This morning we made a big deal about what a big boy he is and how he should feel very proud of himself. He certainly seemed very proud of himself. We'll see if the magic continues tonight.