No sleep in the crib
This long and winding road to get Adelynn to sleep in her crib has been horrible. She would scream far too long which made (makes) me wonder at her determination. She is a strong willed one that girl. I admit that I did not think Adelynn would be in the crib sleeping soundly based on her past fits. She'd scream until she pukes before she'd stay in that crib all alone. Actually screaming until she pukes is her method. She won't calm down until her way is accepted. I shall see how this screaming manifests itself later on this year. (toddler tantrums?) It has been a long journey to get her in that crib. Many nights of screaming with me caving and putting her back into the bassinet. What's a Mom to do with no sleep? I could not justify sacrificing my sleep night after night so I wimped out and put her in the bassinet. It seemed like a dead end. And then it happened: She didn't want to be in that cramped bassinet. I don't blame her. When I could choose between my bed and the recliner I'd go for the bed too.
But oh the days of stress it brought me.
At first I began to fight her on this sleeping in the crib milestone. I felt she had to be in there on my time frame. When every night ended in a fail I became more and more frustrated. The thoughts of urgency began to cloud my judgment. I kept thinking "what if she can't sleep in the crib before she sits up?" There were other thoughts too possibly hundreds and mostly spinning round my brain as I paced her room soothing her back to sleep. Finally when I realized that my worries would not solve the problem I needed a new approach. I listened (finally!) to my instinct and let it roll. I would put her in the crib at the start of the night and let her sleep until she woke. Some nights she would sleep 2-3 hours others 30 minutes. I dealt with it as it came never forcing her to stay in the crib. If she fussed and 2 tries didn't work I just put her in the bassinet. I aimed for one leg of sleep per night and increased that little by little. Mostly I hoped that she would sleep at least 3 hours in her crib. I maintained all naps in the crib so I figured that 3 hours was pretty good. Soon she was comfortable starting out in the crib going for 2 hours of sleep. After her first feeding she'd go to the bassinet for the remainder of the night. I wanted her to ease into the change taking in the new location gently. Eventually Adelynn just slept all night in the crib. I didn't call it a success until she had slept a whole week in the crib.
So here we are the battle over, peace for all ends with a happy baby sleeping in her crib. We still need to overcome the tiny detail of putting her down without being mostly asleep. I have been working on this a little. Not intentionally. It has more to do with Adelynn wanting to be awake at 2am and me needing her to go to sleep. In those situations she is put in her bed and I leave her to work her way to sleep. Most of the time she wiggles around a while before falling asleep. Other times I need to soothe her back to sleep with some rocking. Progress is happening but it will not be forced. I will not force this child to sleep according to my time frame. She'll get there so long as I am patient and willing to work with her personality. So far I've done well which makes me feel confident that each new thing will be overcome.
But oh the days of stress it brought me.
At first I began to fight her on this sleeping in the crib milestone. I felt she had to be in there on my time frame. When every night ended in a fail I became more and more frustrated. The thoughts of urgency began to cloud my judgment. I kept thinking "what if she can't sleep in the crib before she sits up?" There were other thoughts too possibly hundreds and mostly spinning round my brain as I paced her room soothing her back to sleep. Finally when I realized that my worries would not solve the problem I needed a new approach. I listened (finally!) to my instinct and let it roll. I would put her in the crib at the start of the night and let her sleep until she woke. Some nights she would sleep 2-3 hours others 30 minutes. I dealt with it as it came never forcing her to stay in the crib. If she fussed and 2 tries didn't work I just put her in the bassinet. I aimed for one leg of sleep per night and increased that little by little. Mostly I hoped that she would sleep at least 3 hours in her crib. I maintained all naps in the crib so I figured that 3 hours was pretty good. Soon she was comfortable starting out in the crib going for 2 hours of sleep. After her first feeding she'd go to the bassinet for the remainder of the night. I wanted her to ease into the change taking in the new location gently. Eventually Adelynn just slept all night in the crib. I didn't call it a success until she had slept a whole week in the crib.
So here we are the battle over, peace for all ends with a happy baby sleeping in her crib. We still need to overcome the tiny detail of putting her down without being mostly asleep. I have been working on this a little. Not intentionally. It has more to do with Adelynn wanting to be awake at 2am and me needing her to go to sleep. In those situations she is put in her bed and I leave her to work her way to sleep. Most of the time she wiggles around a while before falling asleep. Other times I need to soothe her back to sleep with some rocking. Progress is happening but it will not be forced. I will not force this child to sleep according to my time frame. She'll get there so long as I am patient and willing to work with her personality. So far I've done well which makes me feel confident that each new thing will be overcome.
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