The time has come. The time for S to sleep in her own bed. I'm not 100% sure that I'm ready to not see her little face first thing in the morning, but I know that if we don't make the transition soon we'll have a hard time evicting her from our room before she starts kindergarten. So, we bought Good Night, Sleep Tight, which was recommended by several friends and we're starting the process. The book basically discusses how to teach a baby to fall asleep on her own and put herself back to sleep when she wakes up. Hey, I knew how to put her to sleep...left boob and right boob. Worked like a charm. Then again, I had become the human pacifier. I attempted to let her fall asleep on her own (but still in our bed) Thursday night. It didn't go over well. She screamed and screamed and no amount of consoling her seemed to help. Finally she just stared at me, crying. I couldn't take it anymore and left boob made an appearance at the Late Show with SMP.
Yesterday, however, I decided to try to get her to sleep in her crib for her afternoon nap. It wasn't a great experience, but after about a half an hour of fussing and crying she fell asleep. It's a start, right? Last night, we tried the "fall asleep on your own" routine again and achieved a significant measure of success. I put her down (unswaddled) between the two of us "drowsy but awake." She fussed (but didn't wail) for about twenty minutes. She was out cold by 9:45. She woke up at 10:45, 12:45, and 3:30, which is more than usual, but we left her alone and she went back to sleep all three times. When she woke up at 5:45, I fed her. Eight hours is longer than she's ever gone without nursing, so I figured she was actually hungry, not just looking to the udders for comfort. She went to sleep after nursing for ten minutes and actually unlatched on her own...no attempts at using me as a pacifier. Related? No idea, but I'll take it. She woke up for good about 8. It was wonderful.
As for today, I'm not screwing with her morning nap routine, choosing to let her snooze in her swing, even though the book suggests against it. I don't want to throw her into the deep end, you know. We'll try to do the afternoon nap in the crib again. Once I can get her to sleep in her crib for a nap, I'll try to move her at night. Who would've thought that teaching a baby to sleep could be so much work? I'll keep everyone posted on her progress...because I know you're all dying to know.
Happy Saturday.
3 comments:
hey, some of us are learning through your experiences, so yes, we are dying to know!!!
Lesley
Good luck! This is so hard at first, but you'll sleep much better soon! We swaddled J for almost 6 months in his crib; it was the only way we could get him to sleep there. It was also a little easier at first when B put him to bed after I nursed him. And before we could do "drowsy but awake," we put him in asleep to get him used to being alone. We worked on drowsy but awake at nap time since he was always napping on me and that was the harder habit to break. Now I've got a kid who won't sleep anywhere but his crib! You'll find what works for you!
The funny thing is, I absolutely "tune in" to your blog as if your baby-raising was a soap opera. I'm invested now.
I can't wait to see what'll happen with the P family tomorrow!
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