Last week Mackenzie started the good part of her new sleep routine. Out of the blue she decided to sleep two five-hour stretches; only waking up once to feed. That is ten hours of sleep for her. It was awesome, but just in case it was a fluke I didn't want to blog about it. The next night she went right back to her old sleep habits waking ever two-and-a-half to three hours. Then the following night she woke up after two hours, then after three hours, but then she slept fiver hours. So we are seeing good stuff.
The next night is where the bad sleeping habits started. In the middle of the night Mackenzie decided she no longer wanted to sleep in her crib, but she wanted to sleep with Mommy. I knew this was the case becasue as long as I would hold her or lay her down beside me on the sofa or in our bed she would sleep, but as soon as I would put her in her crib she would SCREAM and CRY. After doing this three times I decided we were going to cry-it-out. Not the typical cry-it-out where you put your child in the crib and let them scream and cry, but a modified version. The Mommy version. I sat in Mackenzie's glider and rocked and kissed her, wiped her tears and snot away and let her scream and cry in my lap. I LOVED her through it, and three hours later she stopped crying and screaming and finally went to sleep. Now she is doing some version of this every night before bed when she realizes it is bed time. Typically it only lasts for about thirty to fourty minutes, but I still hold and lover her through it, then she finally decides to go peacefully to sleep.
My Mom reminded me that God does the same thing for us. When we throw our tantrums here in this life He holds us tight and wipes away our tears, but He also allows us to go through the struggle so we can learn. Wow, God sure loves us.
Hopefully the bad won't last too much longer. Plus, she is getting in some five hour stretches of sleep almost every night now. That is a GREAT thing.
Maybe she is about to hit another milestone (like walking) and that is why she is upset at bedtime. I have heard that just before each milestone a child's sleep pattern can get really messed up.
Just to make up for talking about Mackenzie's bad, here are some good pictures. (Turning the TV off and on, Walking with help, and Food in her hair).
It's great to hear someone standing up for the "mommy way." It might take longer, but I will testify that it works and it's worth the investment.
ReplyDeleteYou might enjoy the book Touchpoints by Brazelton. He goes back and forth on sleep methods, but the book is mainly about the big picture of child development and how the emotional, psychological, and physical impact one another.