Aubrey has always been a great sleeper. When she came home from the hospital she was already sleeping for 4-5 hour stretches at night. She was never the type of baby who woke up every two hours to eat. When she was around 4 months old I did a little bit of sleep training with her to get her on a nap schedule. And ever since then things have been a piece of cake. A morning nap, an afternoon nap, and all through the night. Sure we had our days every so often when she wouldn't go down easily...or her nap ended early, but for the most part Aubrey's sleep schedule has been predictable and wonderful!Until now.
Ever since we came back from St. George Bree has not been going to bed well at night. At first we were understanding. I'm sure it was confusing to have different people put her to bed while we were gone. But after a week, she was still screaming hysterically when we put her to bed every night. We would go in and comfort her, rock her, sing to her, but every time we went to lay her back down she would scream! So after a while we decided we just needed to let her cry. She had to learn to go to sleep on her own again. But when she got the stomach flu we couldn't let her cry, because she kept filling up her diaper and leaking in her crib:( *sigh*
The past two days she has been feeling better, so we decided that sleep training is in session! So far I think it's going OK. Tonight she was asleep by 7:30 after only crying off and on for 30 minutes. The funniest part about all of this is that Bree really gives herself a good workout while she's crying! She pushes herself up onto her hands and knees and looks over the edge of the crib to see if she can find us. It's sad, but also really cute! She is getting stronger!
I love my sweet little girl, and it's hard to listen to her cry (I still go in to her a couple times so I don't feel cruel), but I really think it's time. Bree has gotten to be such a Mommy's girl lately. Even when Matt holds her she reaches for me. And as much as I love to be her favorite person, I want her to learn that she can go to sleep without me...and to feel confident that I'll be there with a smile on my face when she wakes up in the morning!
5 comments:
Sleep issues are always so tough. To make a child independent enough to go to sleep on their own and still not feel rejected is a hard thing to do as a parent. Good luck with the sleep training. I am a huge believer in it. You are a great mom!
That's terrible. When Tyson won't eat or sleep the way he should I get crazy impatient. It's hard when they're sick, but now that she's better that sleep training will totally work.
She looks like such an angel! I can only imagine it's hard to let her cry, but I love what you said about being there with a smile when she wakes up! :)
hugs and have a great day! :)
I understand! When we were sleep training with M it was so hard to listen to her cry, but totally worth it in the end! I kept telling myself that learning to go to sleep on her own was a skill she needed to have. She can now do it without a problem (knock on wood...).
It's really not fair that you've gotten by this long with her being such a good, consistent sleeper!! But that maybe even makes it that much harder. Q doesn't quite know what to think of the new apartment still! Change is real hard for kids. Are you feeling better? I miss you.
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