Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Yeah, so, um....you were probably expecting this one weren't you?
No, I did not make it to the gym today. I am a horrible worker-outer. I really did plan to go, but a series of unforseeable events happened, and it just wasn't possible. If all goes well, I am going tomorrow. And hopefully we will even make it out of the house in time for me to go to Cardio Dance. You should be proud of me though because I did walk on the treadmill for 30 minutes. It's better than nothing, right?

For the past month, I have been trying to get Aeralyn to sleep in her crib. She takes naps in her swing, and at night she would sleep with me and Aaron. You can have your opinions about that, but unless you have a child, you may want to keep them to yourself because your words may come back and bite you right on the butt one day. I know this from experience. I ALWAYS said I would never let my child sleep in the bed with me and my husband. She has slept with us from day one. Well, that's not entirely true considering I slept with her in the recliner for the first month, but after that she has been with us.

It was working out okay for a while, but she has become quite the wiggle worm. I was getting tired of getting kicked, slapped and head-butted all night long, so I decided it was time to move her to her own bed.

I knew it wouldn't be easy, but I didn't realize how hard it would really be.

You see, I don't believe in letting her "cry it out" in her crib. I just cannot ignore my child's cries, her one and only form of communication, so crying herself to sleep was not an option for me.

We have gone through almost a solid month of rocking her to sleep, laying her down in the crib, her waking up immediately, picking her back up and starting the process all over again. Sometimes I would do it for 2 hours straight, and then give up and take her back to bed with me. Maybe once a week we would be successful, but that was it.

I'm not going to lie, it got very frustating. I would think "Why don't I have one of those babies that goes to sleep in her crib by herself at 8pm and wakes bright eyed every morning a 8am?" It was getting to where the only time I had to myself was when she would take a nap, and it was becoming very hard. We were both waking eachother up 4 to 5 times a night, and each time she wanted to be nursed back to sleep. Needless to say, I was starting to lose my mind.

Sunday night, we started the routine of rocking and laying her in the crib. First try didn't work, so I picked her back up and started over. Second try laying her down, she started wimpering. Aaron and I looked at eachother and he said "Take off your shirt and put it in there with her." I did it and immeditately she grabbed it and went to sleep.

Jackpot!

Tuesday night, I layed her in her crib while she was still awake. She grabbed my shirt and layed quietly in her crib, listening to the music playing, and went to sleep on her own about 20 minutes later. We couldn't believe it!

Later that night Aaron and I were laying in bed and we both looked at eachother and said "I miss her." I debated back and forth wether or not I was going to go and get her. We talked about flipping a coin, heads we go get her, tails we don't. Then Aaron said the all important words: "She's only going to be this little one time." I went and got her and she spent the rest of the night right between us.

Isn't it funny how we tried so hard to get her to sleep in her own bed, and then as soon as she does we decide we miss her and bring her right back? In some ways I want to cherish these moments while I have them. Then again, I feel like I need to break the habit before it goes on any longer. It will just get harder the older she gets.

She is laying in her crib right now, awake. I'm sure she'll be asleep before long. I'm going to leave her there.

She's growing up so fast, and there's nothing I can do but watch.

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4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

You and Aaron are the only one's that know what is best for you and your baby. Don't beat yourself up. Both of you give yourselves a big pat on the back for being such loving and caring parents. But next time you have the advantage of her actually sleeping in her own crib "I know you could think of something to do"!
Anita

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow this brought back memories. Kira was 3months old when we decided she had to get out of our bed (for the sake of our ribs and necks - she had such a high kick, good lord) and the moment we did, we both missed her immeasurably even though her bassinette was not two feet from our bed. Moving her into her own room was the worst though - it felt like she was a lifetime away instead of one room away! It took us about a week to get used to, and even now, almost 9 months later, I still miss her being in bed with us - not that it matters because she will NOT sleep with us now that she's used to having an entire crib all to herself. LOL

Blogger Lindsey said...

I'll have to remember that "give him/her your shirt" trick. I can't believe that worked!

Blogger Heather said...

Anita: Hey, we don't need anymore kids! Quit trying to make that happen!

Erica: I'm glad to know I'm not the only one!

Lindsey: I know, it's so sweet! And as Aaron said "Kind of like havig a dog". Right, just like having a dog.

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