Bedtime-I dread this time of the day
Madalynn- she will be 10 months old TOMORROW! She has been a great baby. She rarely fusses, she is easy going, playful, affectionate and loves her sleep...I mean she used to love her sleep. About a month ago that all changed. She does not object to nap time, she goes down at around the same time every day and sleeps about an hour to 2 hours with each nap. Nap time and Bedtime have ALWAYS been consistent with the routine and the time. Typically she gets a bath at 6 O'clock pm and then gets lotioned up and her jammers are then put on. She is usually whiny and clingy starting at around 6pm. 7pm she is then taken upstairs to her own bedroom, placed in her crib with a bottle of warm milk (I know that is a no-no, but we all do it) and a pacifier along with a blanket or two. Her lullaby music is then turned on and her door is cracked. That used to seal the deal, but now she cries when placed
in her crib at Bedtime (not nap time). We usually end up having to take her out of her crib and bring her back downstairs for a while. Tonight though I refused to give in!! I was just as stubborn as she was. I let her cry it out! Her pediatrician said she's old enough to cry it out, so I finally tried it out. I let her cry until she fell asleep. I knew she was fine. She wasn't wet, she wasn't hungry, she definitely wasn't too cold or hot, she was just mad that I put her to bed. I am not sure why, but I'm starting to think it may be separation anxiety?!? The end result thus far...she fell asleep. I hope she stays asleep. That is my other gripe as of late. Ever since she started teething her upper teeth she has been waking up 2, 3, 4 times a night just for me to find her pacifier and give it to her or she wants a bottle! Lord help me!! I'm worn out. Should I just allow her to cry herself
back to sleep in the middle of the night too?
*she woke up 10 minutes later, so I decided to go check on her. I gave her, her bottle and so far so good...
Nolan- he is 26 1/2 months old and... well... I've blogged about his sleeping issues before, but I figured I would blog about him as well since nothings really changed and yes I am frustrated. We decided to test out a nap free day for him. We're wondering if he just isn't tired at 7 or 8 pm and not ready to go to bed due to him napping. Yesterday was a nap free day and he fell asleep at 6:20pm in the van, on our way home. He stayed asleep until 10:20pm, woke up crying and cranky and I had to stay in his room until he fell asleep. Then...around 2am he was in our bed for the remainder of the night and awake at 5:50am!! Today he didn't nap, and went to bed at 8pm. He cried, he screamed and protested having to go to bed, but after 5 minutes of me sitting with him and singing lullabys. I also said a prayer over him aloud, in hopes that, that will help keep him asleep ALL NIGHT and sleep
restfully and peacefully.
I am so ready for these two children to start sleeping through out the night, in their own beds, and not fighting Bedtime any longer.
posted by Melissa at
8:36 PM
2 Comments:
Update from last night...both babies woke up at 3:37am this morning. Madalynn went back down with a bottle and stayed asleep until 7:20. Nolan slept on our bedroom floor. I decided I am not going to allow him in our bed any more! That was okay, but he woke up 2 or 3 different times crying out and talking in his sleep. I told Michael I'm contemplating taking Nolan to a child sleep therapist...sigh
I recomend trying the nap free day with Nolan again but this time NO going in the car where he can fall asleep. We have found that our 2 year old Ethan sleeps much better thru the night when we are home play hard, lots of running, and he doesn't nap. But we also never keep him from sleeping. Yesterday when I had to take one of the twins to a friends house we were in the car messing with the GPS (maybe taking 5 mins) and he was asleep before we finished pulling out of the driveway...and of course woke up 30 mins later upon pulling into the driveway! He was telling me we have to go bye bye...to him we never left. It was adorable!
Anyway...short naps are more helpful for him to sleep better at night too... good luck! I can understand your pain and frustrations! I really can. My twins are almost 13 years old now, but there was a time I thought I would go mad from sleep deprivation!
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