Ever since Tabby was about 2.5 months old, she's slept through the night in her own crib. I am very driven by how much sleep I do or do not get, so this has been a major blessing. But lately, her sleep patterns have been off.
Looking back, I know exactly why. Like most families with a young'un we got various bugs most of the winter. They were shared throughout the house. And when Tabby was sick, she would wake up during the night. Sick and sleep deprived ourselves, we frequently took the easy way out and plopped her into bed with us.
But it has gotten so bad lately that while she was still going to sleep in her own bed (though not as graciously as she once did), she would wake up in the middle of the night and EXPECT to come sleep in our bed. One night this weekend, when I went in to comfort her, I picked her up and she pointed at the door as if to say, “Time to go.”
For many reasons, I don't feel the family bed is right for us. I won't get into those dogmas, but that's been our decision. So to have this situation was not ideal and I knew we needed to fix it. After a wretched night's sleep on Sunday, partially due to our bed bug and partially due to a cold bug, I decided to put my foot down. This was partially precipitated by my needing to take Nyquil to get a decent rest – and obviously when you're drugged it's not SAFE to have the kiddo in bed.
So Matt and I talked about it and came up with a plan of action. We didn't want to let her “cry it out.” I don't really like this method from an emotional standpoint, but also, it just doesn't work with Ms. Tabby. She's super stubborn and will just ramp up her fury as time goes on.
So we employed some of the Baby Whisperer's methods combined with a little SuperNanny. Baby Whisperer advocates gradually taking your child from where she is to where you want her to be. Super Nanny has some hard rules about getting kids to bed. You gently remind them where they're supposed to be the first time, not so gently the second time and then you don't talk, just place them back in their bed. So I'd lay her back down and rub her back a bit or otherwise soothe her physically and then I sort of backed it away to shushing while still standing over the crib (but not talking after the first couple of times she sat up and started to wail again), and then after a good five minutes of silence, I left the room.
When she woke up in the wee smalls, I was able to employ the same tactics, but thankfully sit out my 5 minute rule in her rocker accross the room. It also took a lot fewer tries the second time.
Last night was pure bliss. For the first time in I'm not sure how long, she went to sleep on the first try, no persuasion from us and slept straight through with no major events or trauma. I think Matt went in and found her binky for her once.
I don't want to jinx it, but I really hope we've turned a corner here. If we can get the night time sleeping settled again, I want to work on naps. Perhaps I can finally turn her into a napper.
Yikes! I hope it takes and she stays in her crib. I'd give you tips but I don't have any. We didn't have either of the kids in the bed with us other than a couple of times that they were really sick.
On another note, I LOVE your new layout!
Glad the sleep gig has found its groov. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that all stays on track. Good luck creating a napper
Sleep is just a never ending thing with a kid I've realized. The only time he sleeps in bed with us is when we're away, because it's easier to get him to lay down and go to sleep. As much as I'd love to drag him in bed with me on those nights that he won't sleep, I don't, because I know at this age, it'll just manifest itself into a bigger problem. 99% of the time I don't let him cry it out, because it usually just upsets him more, and like you, I'm not in the cry it out camp. Of course, mileage may vary and all that. But he's been waking up too, because of teething, and I just rock him back to sleep. He seems to like that, and usually he'll pass out and I can put him down no problem. Other times, he's kind of in a twilight sleep and the minute I put him down and turn his monitor on, he pops his head up and starts to whine. I make him lay back down and try and go to sleep on his own. It sometimes takes a while, and I'm dragging ass in the morning, but if it's not broken, don't fix it.
Good luck Jess hope the restful nights continue and onto naps!
This new blog design is SO awesome!!!
We've been doing the “silently put Lucas back to bed thing” lately. It has worked. Hallelujah!
I can relate to this. Lila slept with us every night until she was close to a year old. I hated the idea of co-sleeping, but what can I say, I was a lazy breast feeder who didn't want to sit in the rocking chair in the middle of the night. Anyway, transitioning to the crib was pretty hard. I'm not one of those people who co-slept so that we could be closer or bonded or attached, whatever you want to call it…I did it out of convenience. So, I wanted her out of there and fast! I didn't want this to turn into having a five year old (or worse) in my bed. Anyway, persistence was the key for us. Once they realize you're not giving in, they are pretty good about giving up, or at least that's been our experience.
First of all, I love the new look. I hope Tabby's nighttime struggles are over for good. It's so hard to hear them cry, but when you know it's for their own good, it makes things easier.
Glad that she is sleeping through the night now. I really don't know what I would do if Lani stopped sleeping through the night. I get sooo grumpy when I am woken up! Since I can't take it out on Lani poor Michael gets it
LOL!! Oh, and BTW, I LOVE the new look.
Yeah we never did co-sleeping but Lore doesnt want to sleep with us either… lol… but we had to do the CIO because I just couldn't keep going back 50 times in a night to sooth her… our peds told us to drug her and just let her cry… after 2 days she was sleeping really well and has been since then… but we also have to keep a water sippy in her crib because we know she wakes up at 3am to play… we hear he giggling from time to time lol…