3 years ago
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Once Upon a Dream
In a perfect world - Daphne would sleep soundly every night from 9pm to 7am. Any advice on making this dream a reality? I never really did the whole "sleep training" thing because she started sleeping through the night on her own at 6 weeks and we had no issues until about 5 months - but ever since then it's been a rocky road. We've come a long way from waking every hour, but still it seems like every other week she wants to wake up at two in the morning. Lately it's more like every other day. Which wouldn't be such a big deal if she didn't fight going back to sleep for the next hour. Letting her cry herself to sleep used to work, until she figured out she could sit up or stand up and scream for as long as she wants. Is this normal? If not, what should I do?!
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3 comments:
quinn went through that phase too.... to make it worse he also learned how to climb out the crib.... we ended up having korbin sleep in our room for alomst a month so quinn's screaming and getting out of his would not wake up his brother.. we simply ignored the screaming and with in a month(ish) he gave up and bed time has been SOOO nice.. almost nice enought that the thought of a child number 3 doesnt make me want to puke...
Parenting is tough because once you think you have things figured out, children evolve and you have to figure things out all over again.
Carly was a great sleeper until around 7 months, and that's when we decided to let her "cry it out". The thing I've learned about "crying it out" is that it's not a one-time-fix-all thing. Sure, the first time was the worst, but we've had to let her "cry it out" plenty of times since then. And I must say, as many mistakes as I've made in parenting, I do have one amazing sleeper (8:00pm - 8:00am nine times out of ten with a 2-3 hour nap).
So here's my advice, for whatever it's worth. Try letting her cry it out again. Maybe she'll scream for an hour or maybe she'll sit in her crib and play for an hour and a half. But soon enough, she'll figure out that no one is coming for her and she'll fall asleep. Right now, she may just wake up and know that if she cries, you'll come and get her. If she figures out that she's on her own, she'll probably stop crying all together.
I know it's hard but the key is consistency. In my (oh, so humble) opinion, it's not going to hurt her to play by herself for an hour or cry herself to sleep. In fact, I think it will help her a lot in the long run. GOOD LUCK!!! And let me know what you decide to do and how it goes. Sorry for the novel.
Crew is a pretty good sleeper too, but it took him a long time to figure it out. Ultimately, I just had to let him cry it out (like the other moms). Some nights it was so long and horrible, I layed there in misery. But a book I have been reading lately put a different spin on it. She said that we shouldn't deprive our children of learning the important ability to fall asleep on their own. It helps them develop their own sense of autonomy, independence, and learn that they are capable. I like the way she looks at it. But certainly, do what you feel is right. You know daphne best.
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