Saturday, December 5, 2009

New Program for Pepper

I recently wrote about Pepper the Pest and how she disrupts our sleep. We're trying a new approach and it appears she might be changing her behavior.

When she jumped on us during the night, we sensed she wanted attention so we've been petting her or that she was cold so we let her under the covers. We've bought her a new heating pad for her bed, so being cold is not an excuse.


The new policy is this: When she jumps on the bed, we quickly and gently pick her up and set her on the floor. She then sits at the foot of the bed on the floor and gives these pitiful little meows -- it's all I can do not to laugh out loud.

After 4 nights, she's doing better. Last night she jumped on Ed once and on me three times. After that, she meowed several more times, then went into her bed. We're also trying to give her more attention during the day. Time will tell!

Someone pointed out that this is like teaching babies to go to sleep -- you have to let them cry until they get the hint. (Why didn't we think of this sooner?)


She does sleep in some funny positions. Here she is in her favorite blanket on the sofa.

2 comments:

Beth said...

What you're doing with Pepper is what we had to do with our kids when they were toddlers and graduated from a crib to a twin bed. Hopefully Pepper won't have bad dreams and get back in your bed during the night!

marymay said...

She only jumped up once on me last night. However, Ed said she stood at the foot of the bed and meowed all night. With my CPAP, I sleep so deeply that I hear nothing.