J wins Round 1

I've decided that perhaps the bedtime battles (at least with my kids) just begin at about 2 years, 3 months. Emma fought it for 10 months after her 2nd birthday and J seems to be following suit. We thought the bedtime battles began with E because we moved her out of her crib into a real bed. But J is still in his crib. We did get rid of the pacifier but he doesn't seem to need them to go to sleep. He's begun stalling (just like E) to prolong bedtime. He was a fantastic bedtime kid until around the beginning of May. Read a story, sing a song, say a prayer, put him in the bed & walk out. Done. Ask our babysitters. They were astounded at his pleasant bedtime demeanor. No more pleasantries. We've cajoled and bribed and rocked and sang and done everything to try to lull him into going to sleep on time and peacefully but no dice. He's as manipulating as Emma - even worse to a certain extent.

So tonight we decided we'd let him cry it out. Day 1 of however many days it takes.
Time Clock: 1 hour, 4 minutes of crying, yelling, etc. before final silence.
Stages covered: 7 different stages (listed below) with 5 minute calm period between each intended to fake us out into thinking he's done.
1) pitiful crying - intended to illicit sympathy and another bedroom visit
2) sobbing - intended to make parents think he'll hyperventilate
3) angry-baby "cussing" - intended to make us respond with anger which would get us back in the room
4) periodic screeching - punctuated with wall-kicking
5) silence - fake out hoping we'll come check on him and realize he's still awake
6) requesting a drink - classic stall intended to make parents worry about dehydration from crying
7) screaming parents' names with blood-curdling volume - last ditch effort; 1/2 angry - 1/2 desperate attempt to get us back in the room

These 7 stages are followed by periodic murmuring as he finally accepts defeat and lies down to go to sleep. Hopefully these stages will decrease in length until the boy realizes we are seriously not coming back. Stay tuned for tomorrow night's episode recap.