As is well known we have had huge HUGE sleep issues with Paiton since the day she was born. We have always just dealt with it, trying every trick in the book. I have about 7 books here about how to get babies to sleep better, and not one of them has helped or worked in the least.
She at least used to take good naps for me so I could work, but over the last 3 weeks the longest I have gotten out of her is about 30 minutes, which is just not working. It makes Paiton very grumpy and hard to deal with and puts me in a terrible mood. I can't get work done, house work done, or anything else done!
Yesterday I was at the end of my rope. I am exhausted and Paiton was being so impossible to deal with. I didn't know what else to do so I headed to Barnes and Noble and sat in the Baby Care aisle and looked through all the books, most of which I already own. Paiton was screaming in her stroller and I was about in tears. It was just a nightmare. I found a book I thought sounded really good. It is called The No Cry Sleep Solution For Toddlers and Preschoolers. It focuses on GENTLY teaching your child new ways to get to sleep.
In the first chapter it stresses making sleep changes because YOU want or need to, not because other people think you should. There are plenty of people who have an opinion on Paiton sleeping with us, which has never bothered me because it isn't anyone else's business. If it works for us, it's right. And this book really stresses that, which immediately made me like it! The way I would get Paiton to sleep is that I would hold her and bounce her walking around the house or watching TV with Matt, or whatever. She would scream and scream before she would finally fall asleep. It is terrible and I HATE it. It puts me in a terrible mood. I am guessing I spend at least 50% of my time with a screaming child, and that is enough to make anyone lose their mind.
I read through most of this book last night so I could start implementing it right away. It seemed easy enough, the first step is to get Paiton to sleep without holding her. It gives many options and doesn't want you to just stop cold turkey. It explains that you can't go from holding your baby and being there from wake to sleep to just leaving them in a dark room to cry for hours. It isn't healthy and it doesn't make any sense to the baby. This is how I have always felt about the Ferber method and it is nice to read that my feelings are justified. I would never do something that would cause my child to be alone and crying.
So what we tried last night is this:
-Started a longer bed time routine. I always tried to make it quick, but you are supposed to do it slow to give the baby time to wind down. Paiton usually gets baths in the morning, but I gave her one last night and let her play and splash. After her bath I talked quietly to her and put on her jammies and told her we were getting ready for bed. I gave her her blankey and her alligator and laid her in bed. I picked out some books and laid in bed with her and read to her for about 15 minutes. Then I turned out the light, turned on her candle sound machine, and laid with her. She was very tired. She kind of rolled around for a bit, and she kept trying to rub my face and grab me and I just gently put her hands back on her gator. It took only 26 minutes and she was out!! It was amazing! I didn't have to hold her, rock her, or deal with any crying at all. It was peaceful and I really enjoyed it. The book said to look at it as being able to spend some special time with baby before they fall asleep, instead of thinking of all the other things you could be doing.
It was awesome. I got to spend some time with Matt, which never happens at night! I put Paiton in the guest bed upstairs and when it was time for us to go to bed I moved her to our bed.
Here she is, sleeping away peacefully:
Today my battle is naps! I am going to try it the same way as I did last night and see how it goes. During the day is even harder because I have work I HAVE to do or I don't get paid, and if I am spending hours with a screaming baby, nothing gets done. So cross your fingers, I have high hopes!!
(and don't miss the new post under this!!)
2 comments:
Congrats! I know that is a huge accomplishment. I found bathing at night is the most soothing for them and I even bathed her in the Johnson&Johnson Lavender bath wash and finished with the lavender lotion. It is supposed to be soothing for them, plus the smell is associated with bedtime.
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