Sleep deprived, why?
Because of this "Little Angel"? My sweet Ivy Mae has decided (after 7 months of being and amazing sleeper) that she no longer wants to sleep a full night! She much prefers the 8-12 or 1 then 2/3-8! Her witching hours are a solid 2 hours almost every night from midnight or one until 2 or 3 and then she will finally go back to sleep until morning! At first I thought it was teething and because G was out of town, didn't want to see my baby in pain, and frankly was too dang tired to rock her for hours on end, I just would bring her to bed with me... It was fine in the beginning but then she wasnt sleeping with me either! She would just roll around in bed, pull my hair, jibber jabber, laugh, crawl all over me, etc.. for a couple of hours and then fall back asleep! This lasted a week or so and I decided that I NEEDED sleep! She wasn't upset or in pain, just awake and this had become a very BAD habit! I tired rocking her, walking with her, laying in her in her crib and patting her back but nothing worked so I just left her in her crib! Now I am NOT a fan of the old crying it out method but honestly it was the last resort! We had to do it with Hadley one time and I had to turn on a movie and put in ear plugs because I couldn't take it! Thankfully with Hadley it only took 40 minutes and her Daddy was her to do it. Ivy Mae is a whole other story! This child is so strong willed I knew it would be a fight to the end and a major battle. 2 1/2 hours later of her crying, me going in every 5, 10, 15 minutes trying to calm her and sitting outside her door sobbing, she finally gave in and slept! I felt like the worst Mom ever but in the morning I got the biggest smiles ever and all was forgiven! We have only had one other bad night since then and it was because of teething. I knew she was hurting that night and we just cuddled on the couch until midnight and then she slept the rest of the night... That is until now... As I right this post at 1:40am we are going through the battle again.
Is this just a phase? Is there something else I should be doing? I am so tired and of course this is the middle of G's two weeks away! I don't have help at night or during the day, no husband for 2 weeks, and no nannies! Suggestions welcome.... I HATE to hear her cry but I need sleep to function for both girls during the day. Why cant these little ones each come with a specialized instruction guide?
 |
| My Precious girl |
Off to bed I hope...
Sleep Deprived and Searching for answers...
Ethan went through the same thing and didn't sleep through the night from 8-12 months. We also got into the habit of just bringing him into bed at night. I knew it was a bad habit, but I was doing anything I could to survive since I was still at work. Around his first birthday, I decided to go to a pediatric sleep "doctor" to help me make the plan. Like you, I didn't want to do cry it out. Her plan sounds like what you are doing but you are missing 1 big part...Daddy. What I would do is start it when Graham is home in 2 weeks. Ivy knows that when you go into her room, she can cry and you are going to "save" her. Graham needs to do the night wakings when he is home, going in every 5 minutes like you did before. You don't put her to bed or do ANY of the night wakings. She will quickly learn that Dad isn't going to take her out of her crib and she will go back to sleep. Honestly, it only took 2 nights of Ethan waking up and we have been smooth sailing for 4 months now :) GOOD LUCK!
ReplyDelete