Good sleepers are born, not made. Olive, unlike most babies, hates to sleep. Instead, she prefers to spend her free time practicing her Indian accent and watching "Keeping Up With the Kardashians." I kid. That's what I do in my free time. No, really. Olive is strangely really anti-napping, and in the evening, she's like the J.Lo of babies - requiring a truck load of assistance and amenities to fall asleep. In spite of my husband and I providing a abundance of sleep-inducing goodies, the munchkin still has difficulty going the eff to bed. The little monster needs to be rocked and held. She needs to sleep in our room - more specifically, on our bed. Le hubby would sometimes complain while I, deep down, adore having her sleep with us. She's a great cuddler! But now that she's a crazy crawler, in order to ensure her safety, I've agreed to put an end to her bad habits and our mother-daughter co-dependency. Olive, mommy's sorry, but your sleep-related privileges are coming to an end.
Le hubby and I began sleep training last week. In the evening, we plopped the munchkin into her crib (situated in our bedroom as it is where she sleeps best), shut the door and left! We promised each other not to "save" the baby until the next morning - 6am at earliest. So much easier said than done. Olive woke up about two times during the night, and each time I heard her crying for help, I wanted to cry. I'd reach for the baby monitor to see what she was up to, and as expected, there she was, standing in her crib, hollering for dear life.
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Ermahgerd! If she cried for an hour, I was awake for that hour. Last week was rough.
Le hubby was able to sleep through the commotion just fine. Dads. Yes, well, we're in week two, and I'm slowly getting used to the sound of her "self-soothing." And Olive? She's actually starting to get used to sleeping on her own. Sure, she still wakes up at least two times during the night to scream for help, but the duration of her crying has definitely shortened from 1.5 hours to 30 minutes. This may not be much to you parents with good self-soothers, but in our household, this calls for a juice box toast. I'm so proud of my munchkin. Give her two more weeks, and perhaps we'll have this sleeping thing down... Here's hoping.
* Photo of Olive looking unimpressed was taken by Monica of Shoots & Giggles.
.JPG)
Ermahgerd! If she cried for an hour, I was awake for that hour. Last week was rough.
Le hubby was able to sleep through the commotion just fine. Dads. Yes, well, we're in week two, and I'm slowly getting used to the sound of her "self-soothing." And Olive? She's actually starting to get used to sleeping on her own. Sure, she still wakes up at least two times during the night to scream for help, but the duration of her crying has definitely shortened from 1.5 hours to 30 minutes. This may not be much to you parents with good self-soothers, but in our household, this calls for a juice box toast. I'm so proud of my munchkin. Give her two more weeks, and perhaps we'll have this sleeping thing down... Here's hoping.
* Photo of Olive looking unimpressed was taken by Monica of Shoots & Giggles.
1 comment:
That must be so crazy hard!!! Poor Olive. She'll get on track soon enough. My lil sis slept with her baby in their bed until she was about a year old and it was hard, but now she is 18 months and prefers to sleep in her own room so that is good. Good luck and I Hope when you do sleeep it is magical.
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