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Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Day 2 of Sleeping Training -- I cheated

So, Tessa decided she wanted to camp out in Ella's room last night. She set up her Disney Princess cot next to Ella's bed and announced she wanted them to be room mates. I thought I would let her because at least it was a start to get her away from our bed. She said when Ella went to sleep, she was going to go in there.

Well, I decided to start off the night by getting Ella to sleep and then laying her down in the crib. I even gave her a cereal bottle to see if that would help her sleep longer (even though I totally know it isn't true, I just decided to do it to prove my mom and my friend's mom wrong). Well, the minute I laid her down, she startled and woke right back up. I brought her back in the living room. We did this at least 15 times.

By 10:30 p.m., I was done. I was frustrated, tired, and ready to settle in for the night. I was going to lay her down one more time, and if she woke up, she was going to stay in her crib. I would comfort her if she cried, but that was it. Well, she stayed asleep this time.

Tessa had already fallen asleep in the rocking chair waiting for Ella to go to sleep and watching a movie. It's a good thing it's summer, and we don't have to be anywhere in the mornings. I woke her, and she said she wanted to get in the cot. So, by 11 p.m., I was in the living room wounding down for the night.

It was too good to be true. She was awake at 12:30 a.m. I went in there, picked her up, got her back to sleep and put her back down. I hoped she would stay asleep again.

Wrong!! She woke back up at 2:30 a.m., and I was exhausted. I let her stay with me. I couldn't help it. I needed my sleep. I hoped that was it for the night.

I was wrong again. Tessa woke up at 3:30 a.m. and came to bed with me. Then, Brian woke me up when he was getting ready for work at 4:30 a.m. I could have killed him. Then, Ella was up for the day at 7:30 p.m.

I have spent the day exhausted. Tessa has acted up all day because she didn't have any of the neighbor kids to play with, plus she was just tired. Ella went right to sleep while I was holding her, but woke up the minute her body touched the mattress. Then, Brian who worked an extremely long day today, came in, and Ella wanted to smile and talk and look at her daddy.

I finally decided to lay her down awake in her crib because I was frustrated. She is awake now and fussing. I'm going to give it a minute and go in there, but this time, I am not going to pick her up and not going to bring her in the living room.

4 comments:

beingzaraandzidan said...

thanx for stopping by my blog & following.
thank u & I am ur newest follower

Jen said...

Have you looked into reading a sleep training book? Cooper has been in his crib since he was 3 months old so I didn't have too many bad habits to break but our problem is daytime sleeping (he naps just not as long as he needs)...I just bought the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby" because I saw that Beth just raved about it! Sleep training though is all about consistency and what may be some sleepless nights in the beginning will end up paying off in the end...Good luck and hang in there! Ella will get it but it's going to take some time because she's going from motion sleep (which is light sleep anyways) to being in her crib and it's a huge step for her but she'll get there with consistency...

woman who roars said...

OOOh. I've had days/nights like that. So not fun. It does get better!! We actually love the book JenJen mentioned - but you have to do what feels right for your family and kids. It would be much easier if kids came with a manual....and a pause button :-)

Pam the Realtor said...

Sometimes it's as much about training the parents as it is the kids. Hang in there. It will get a little bit better each day.