Sleeping on Her Own: An Update

It took only two nights of moaning and groaning before Vada understood what bedtime means. 

On the first night she cried and yelled for me, "MaMa! MaMa!", she even knocked on her bedroom door (which is too close to her crib for her not to knock on it). I watched in on her on the the t.v. as she cried helplessly for me to come cuddle with her and it felt as if my heart was being squeezed  tightly but through it all, it also felt like this was the right time to be weaning her from the semi-co-sleeping situation we had put ourselves into.

Night two was much like night one only she found the light/fan switches and realized the cause and affect of her actions. That was fun to secretly watch. The crying lasted only about a third as the first night and while she had gotten up from where I had aid her, she also laid herself back down and covered herself up once she was bored of playing around.

On the third night I followed the same routine as the two nights prior, we read two books and then I laid her down, covered her up and gave her glow worm a squeeze, I said good night, kissed her nose and walked out. That was it. She stayed where I put her, kissed her glow worm and fell fast asleep only to wake up at six in the morning the next day. It was a beautiful night for me! I slept soundly and my heart was at ease. My littlest of littles had finally earned how to go to seep on her own, she is growing up!

Ever now and again i'll look on the t.v. monitor and find her fast asleep in the oddest of positions.., but the crying has stopped and the full nights of sleep have begun!

Good Night, Sweetheart

This last weekend I went to a women's retreat at our church and my three girls stayed at my in-laws for the night. When Justin and I came to pick them up on Saturday I was told that Vada went to bed at eight and only woke up once during the night. Slightly frustrated in myself I later discussed this with Justin. I asked "What am I doing wrong?" We always have the same routine, dinner, bath, meds and p.j.'s, then we lay down at seven. However, for me Vada goes to sleep around ten, sometimes earlier and sometimes later but for the most part its pretty late for her age. It doesn't matter if the lights are on or off, if I am reading or watching t.v. or the room is completely silent, she always falls asleep late. She wakes up like clockwork as well, at eleven and then again at least once more during the earlier morning time. I have had maybe a handful of full nights rests since she was around six months. 

Vada co-slept with us up until about a year ago. I have never done the cry-it-out method as I just don't have the heart to do it, or at least I didn't until I realized that Vada is staying up with me not because I am doing anything wrong but because she wants to be up with me. She went to bed fine for my in-laws and Justin says she will go down for him fairly easy as well --if i'm not around. He thinks that she just favors spending time with me, not to sound coincided but I can see this as well.

So, last night at seven I laid down with Vada, as usual, only this time, when eight o'clock came around I put her in her crib. I told her that I loved her, kissed her sweet soft cheek, said good night and walked out. She began to cry, then yell, then she took a break to play with the light switches and to knock on the door while calling for me. Then, when nothing brought me back into her,  she began to cry some more. It was heart wrenching to watch (I have a video camera on her) and over the course of two hours I went into her room three times to calm her back down. Finally, at ten she was asleep. Was it worth it? I don't know. She went to bed the same time as usual but I was able to get my exercises done throughout those two hours of her being in her room, miserable. :( 

I am going to give it another try. Tonight, I will start our routine out the same way, only I will bring her into her room a bit earlier this time. I have been told by other parents who have gone through similar situations or who have done the cry-it-out way that this will take a few days but eventually and soon, she should be going to sleep on her own and hopefully staying asleep throughout the night. We shall see!

Below is how V feel asleep. She was playing with her light switches and had left the lights on. I went into her room to turn the lights off and this is how I found y little angel and this is how I left her.