Sleeping

Even though I am not sleeping, Miss P has reached a milestone with her bedtime habits...well, I think MOM has reached a milestone with Miss P's bedtime habits. Hubby kept telling me he could put her right down and she may cry for 5 minutes and then fall fast asleep. That was never the case for me. I had to rock her completely to sleep or she would cry forever! I had set up a routine that I was having a hard time letting go of, and just putting her down to sleep was not in the routine. But, with the new baby I had to make some changes, and her bedtime routine was one of them.

For starters, I was being way too time generous. I would read her at least 8 books, rock her to music for at least half an hour and then gently lay her down. If she cried I would go in and get her. Slowly I stopped going in to get her and let her cry to fall asleep. Then I cut the books down to three, but I couldn't let go of the "rock down to sleep." Frankly, that part was getting on my nerves. P would play, mess around, want water, cry to read more...anything to not fall asleep. And, I was enabling that behavoir by not enforcing a "last song" or "one more minute of rock time," etc. It was really hard for me to not give in...I just wanted her to be happy, but obviously what I was doing wasn't making either of us happy.

So, last night I tried just putting her down after 2 books and 3 songs and it worked! Not only did it work, but I felt really good about it and so did P. I put her in the crib, tucked her blanket around her and put her little reindeer next her. She actually got to hear my last "I love you" for the day. She just snuggled in under her blanky and did not make a peep. Lately she has been uncomfortable on my lap, anyhow. She has gotten big and can't just lay her head on my shoulder without her legs all cramped up. I think she welcomed being put down sooner rather than waiting until I let her fall asleep. Plus, I realized that I am not doing her any favors by rocking her to sleep all the time. She wasn't learning to fall asleep on her own...and at almost 2 years old she needs to be able to fall asleep on her own. It is hard letting my child "not need" me.