So my dear sweet girl is just that...
Dear and Sweet unless it's naptime or bedtime. OMG!!!! She has been in fine form the past couple of nights and days.
She is all smiles and coos and laughs until she reaches that magical...."over-tired" state and then she won't be happy and won't go to sleep and I am at my wits end!
Try to get her to sleep during that magical window of time when she goes from awake and alert to starting to tire out and then the sleeping should come swift, calm and tears-free....
Theoretically....supposedly....alledgedly.
The book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" relates it to surfing....I liked this analogy even if I have not f0und it to be true...well maybe "not true" isn't the right phrase...it's more like it's impossible to achieve.
I don't remember how it goes exactly but it something like this; "think of your child's ability to sleep as a surfer riding a wave. You want to catch that wave right where it starts to achieve the longest and smoothest ride. If you grab that wave even a moment too late the ride gets choppy and rough and it becomes more likely that you'll fall off and have a very short ride".
As the last entry discussed I was going to try the whole crying it out thing...
"try" being the operative word.
Wait....Wait.... She is asleep
I just checked her and after 10 minutes of crying I guess she gave into the idea that "Mommy is the boss".
Okay here is what I found upon checking the suddenly quiet room.
Isn't that exactly why they say not to use bumpers? Now her face is not buried in the bumper and she's breathing but it's about that arm...it doesn't look comfortable or safe and now I am wondering if I should risk her waking up to move her safely away from the bumper.
Urghhhh I am too worried about her breaking her arm or suffocating I better move her...hold on and enjoy these new Livia pics while you wait....
Here she is puking on Ashley after we decorated her with gemstone stickers
Here she is hanging in her high chair
Bathy time Yay! Success! Few moments as a mother thus far have felt as triumphant as this! Getting her to fall asleep on her own and moving her without waking her up!
We'll see how long this lasts, she usually only falls asleep for the most 20 minutes if she cries herself to sleep.
Anyways I am exhausted. Last night she and Mitch both went to sleep at 7:30 pm. She then woke up at 9 pm and then again at 11 pm and again at 1:30 am and again and 3:50 am. I could not sleep at all this whole time. Couldn't turn my mind off and so every time she woke up...I nursed her back to sleep. But at 3:50 I was getting annoyed. She has been sleeping through the night more or less since she was 2 months old, what was this?
"Mitch get up" I yelled
To which he replied angrily having been woken up with some dumb comment about how I am a lazy mom or how I don't like having a baby very much....Nice Mitch, Nice.
Anyways I told him that he was in charge of her now, I was exhausted and took care of her the three other times she woke up. It was the weekend, he had already slept like 7 hours....since I am SOOOOOO LAZY I guess he was gonna have to come to the rescue.
I should have known that unless she was asleep, even if I wasn't the one walking her around...I wasn't going to be able to sleep. After an hour he finally suggested that I nurse her, I was irritated enough to do so (end the madness) and then when I went to lay her down....crying again! I made her a bottle and gave her and the bottle to Daddy and I said I am done....you're gonna have to do it.
I guess he finally got her to sleep at about 7:00 am and then I finally fell asleep, he went back to sleep and I was thinking she'd at least sleep in...right?
Nope awake at 9:30!
I am beyond frustrated that now she not only will not nap but is waking during the night again. Since Mitch and I live with his family and we share a room with the baby, it makes the crying it out thing during the night pretty impossible.
Ohhhhh this child needs to learn to sleep and needs to learn to self-soothe! I can't take much more!
Robbie used to sleep with his arms around the bumpers. It made me a little scared, but he slept better all curled up around them. David slept and still does with a blanket over his head...he started this around 4 months old. Abe sleeps right up to the bumpers and he is fine, if they were really bad then they would not sell them. Let her be, she will not sufacate.
ReplyDeleteYay for the success story! See...she will go to sleep...eventually. The night time wakings are hard, but you will have to let her cry there too, but I'm not sure how it will work. Maybe sleep on the couch??
ReplyDeleteI have had to let Amelia cry it out more than a few times. Here's the deal. Olivia is getting more social and therefore prefers to have interaction instead of sleep....too bad! You know what is best and you will let her cry if she feels the need so that she can get sleep.
Be consistent. Leave the house if you need to. That is what I have to do. Consistency is the key. She is crying because she is uncomfortable and wants to play, not because she is mad at you or feels abandoned. Man, I could ramble on forever about this. I still struggle with the cry it out thing, but I do it because I know it works.
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