Ever since Little Miss was born, she's been an amazing sleeper. As a newborn, she'd sleep 4-5 hours at a time. She'd 
eat a ton and then go right back to sleep. She was born right before Halloween. We had both sets of family over on Halloween, and she slept through all of the noise and celebration and trick-or-treaters.
A couple of weeks later, she went with us while we walked a couple of blocks and voted. She slept through Election Day. Granted, it wasn't a very exciting Election Day, but she slept through it nonetheless.
Later that month, she slept through her first Thanksgiving. She slept while we ate dinner. She slept while we ate dessert. She napped with Papa. She slept through almost the entire day.
In December, she was wide awake when we dressed her to meet Santa. When we left the house, she was wide awake. By the time we walked two blocks to the mall, she fell asleep again. She was sleeping while she met Santa and sleeping while we walked home.
Little Miss has always been a great sleeper.
Then, over the summer, that changed. During 
vacation, I think she was used to sleeping with us in the same room as she. It must have been comforting to wake up, see us, and go back to sleep. When we got home, she'd wake up and the room would be empty. So, in order to get some peace and quiet, she'd fall asleep with me in our room. When Husband came to bed, he'd move her to her room. She'd sleep through the night. We'd all be happy. Later, she'd actually fall asleep in her playpen or on the couch. We'd let her and finish eating dinner or finish doing whatever it was we were doing. Then, it got to the point she wouldn't sleep in her crib at all. So, something had to be done.
Starting at the beginning of this week, she gets her bedtime bottle in the nursery and she doesn't leave the nursery until the morning whether she is asleep or awake. It does make it so one of us may have to eat early or late, but it was what we had to do. We made our bed so we had to lie in it (or, in our case, not lie in it and lie on the floor of Little Miss's bedroom).
Monday night, it took two hours of her screaming. Husband went in there for a couple of hours. She screamed like her crib was a pot of boiling water and we placed her in there to cook her. However, she settled down when she realized Husband wasn't leaving. He dozed on the floor, and she finally gave in to sleep. She slept through the night.
Tuesday, Husband went to put her to bed while I ate dinner. He was in there for a half hour. When I finished dinner, I 
went in there so he could eat. He was dozing on the floor and she was standing up in the crib. So, we switched spots. It took about an hour, but she did not cry. She just took awhile to fall asleep. She woke up during the night and Husband slept on the floor of her bedroom for 2 hours.
Wednesday night, I put Little Miss to bed. It took an hour. She was good and didn't cry at all. She just took awhile to settle in the crib and would only cry if I tried to leave the room so I rocked in the rocking chair while she settled in. When she was asleep, I crept out. She woke up at 3AM. Husband went in from 3AM-4AM. When he left her room to go to the bathroom, she started screaming like her crib had turned into a giant bear claw and snapped shut. So, I went in there from 4AM-5AM. She fell asleep quickly, but so did I which is why I stayed so long.
So, that brings us to tonight. She settled down without crying within 15 minutes or so. She wasn't even sleeping yet when I crept out of the room. We'll see if she sleeps through the night, but I do consider this great progress. Of course, we'll be consistent and she'll get into a nice routine and then we'll travel for the holiday. Then, everything will be all out of control again. Thus is life.
Sidenote: When Husband woke me at 5AM to get me to come back to bed, he startled me out of a dead sleep, and I screamed awake. Amazingly, Little Miss only briefly stirred but did not fully wake up. I stayed for 5 minute in case she woke up, but she did not. She'll sleep through me screaming and sirens outside, but the quiet of the nursery will keep her awake. Nutty!
2 comments:
Maybe I'm evil, but I just let all my kids scream it out for a couple of nights at about 4 months. I made sure they were fed and dry and comfortable, and then let them scream until they fell asleep. It never took more than 2 nights and they were sleeping through the night permanently.
We also made a no kids in our bed ever rule, which has worked better than I imagined. Sleeping in our bed isn't even an option they consider. (I did bring Liam in once or twice when I was worried about his lungs filling with fluid, but he was asleep and never knew).
I know. I'm a mean mom. They tell me that everyday.
She's crazy when we let her cry it out. She actually falls asleep standing up and then falls which wakes her up with a bump on her head and makes her even madder. She has a really bad temper and, as it is, has been taking chunks out of her crib. She doesn't necessarily cry, but she screams and hits the crib with her pacifier and there are chunks missing in her crib.
It's not the sleeping in our bed that's the problem. She likes to sleep with one of us close by. During the day, she sleeps in a playpen with my mother-in-law in the room. So, she always has the security of looking up and seeing someone. She slept through the night last night (though she woke up early - we sleep late on average).
Kids are supposed to think they're kids are mean. I'm mean because I wouldn't let her play with the computer. In response, she threw food on the floor at dinner and would only eat after Rob took over. Brat. :)
Post a Comment