From the start little M has always been a DREAM sleeper. She came home from the hospital sleeping 5-6 hours at night, for naps and bedtime all you had to do was put her in her crib (awake) give her her blankie, turn on her seahorse and she would drift off to sleep on her own without making a peep. We were so so so lucky in the sleep department. I figure it was gods way of cutting us a break, knowing what we went through to have her.
Fast forward to now. I am not sure where she took a left turn, if its the 6 month separation anxiety, or because she gave up the binkie, but starting about 2 weeks ago you would put her in her crib and she would just scream. So we started rocking her to sleep, then lying her in her crib. Bad bad bad idea. I know this is not a good habit to start AND it only gets harder to break as they get older, so I didn't want to go down that path again (I went through this with Kay). Then we went out of town, and that only made it worse. Trust me, it doesn't take a baby long to realize that hey if I scream a little, mommy will come get me and hey I acutally like being rocked better, so if I cry she'll do that too! They are smart little suckers!! You cant buckle, you cant give in, because if you pick them up, say after 15 minutes of crying, they know the next night all they have to do it cry for 16 minutes ands you'll give in...they are SMART!
So I knew what I had to do...and I wanted to nip in the butt quick before she got too accustomed to being rocked.
We started yesterday, for naps. Instead for rocking her and putting her down to asleep, I rocked her for a few minutes, put her down awake, and rubbed her back (while she screamed) until she fell asleep. I did the same thing last night, fed her, rocked her for a few minutes, then put her in her crib and rubbed her back for a few minutes, then left. She cried, and every 5-10 min. I would go back, rub her back (no talking, no eye contact) for a few minutes, then leave again, and she cried, talked to herself, rolled all around, but finally fell asleep about 30 minutes later.
So today, we are starting the same routine with naps again. This morning, she only cried for 25 minutes before soothing herself to sleep, that is the ultimate goal here, for her to self soothe and fall asleep on their own. My goal is to HELP her learn how to do this, not always do it FOR her. I go in every 5 minutes or so to let her know I'm here, to soothe her (without picking her up!) , to let her know she is safe and comfortable, then I leave. Like I said, I've been down this road before and I know what an evil monster it becomes!
It is hard hearing her cry, no mommy likes that. But I know this is what needs to be done, and I know in a matter of a few days this will all be over and she will be back to the dream sleeper I once had :)
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2 comments:
As you know, we have had trial after tribulation in our house when it comes to sleeping. It had gotten WAY better (YAY!) but now that he has learned that he can stand up in his bed on his own, all bets are off. How do you soothe a screaming baby without picking them up, when they won't stay down?!
as I said...It only gets harder as they get older! But I would say once they start standing, all you can do is "Shush" them, and maybe rub their head.
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