Saturday, July 9, 2011

Please OH Please GO TO SLEEP!!

Since day one Lexi has been a - how do I say this... a difficult sleeper.

She never napped more then 20-30 mins from 3 months to roughly 7 months. Bed time was a whole different ball game. We have tried everything from the "Baby Whisperer" to rocking her to sleep, different types of music, books... whatever you can think of we did it. One thing we were always firm on is that her bed time routine with one parent has to be exactly the same with the other. Bath, Book and then Bed.

I come from the school of letting her cry it out. (Before you judge - hear me out!)

When she was really young we had a counting system. After 1 min of crying you would go check on her, after 2 mins of crying you would go check on her, after 4 mins of crying you would go check on her.... then 8mins, then 16 mins, then 32... this progressed into this snowball counting thing. Only one time did it go to 32mins. We graduated to 5, 10, 20.. and usually by 10-15 mins she would be out. However every night she would cry.
Some nights were more challenging then others. If she wanted to have a toy in her bed, we let her. Once she was sleeping we would go in and move the toy. If she wanted to wear a tutu to bed - no problem. We would go in and remove it after she had fallen asleep.


We do not do this every night but sometimes you just have to choose your battles.

She is now 2 - she nows that there is nothing bad that is going to happen to her in her room. She does not cry ever night. Generally by 8 - 8:30 she is sleeping (or talking to her friends in her bed).

Last night was a regular night for us. She had her bath, we read books and I put her to bed. She did her normal... Mommy don't go routine but I just said (what I always say when I leave her room) Mommy loves and I'm just going down stairs. Good Night! She screamed at me but that is pretty normal. I shut the door and she can't get out (door knob contraption that I can barely use.)

About 30mins later I went to check on her - still awake in her bed. I go back down stairs and come back up another 30mins later. This is what I found.......


Well she is sleeping??? Just in a standing/leaning positions. bhahahaha
Oh wait is gets better.....

Not only did she fall asleep standing up... she was reading Harry Potter... Omg this kid cracks me up!

Each family is going to do this differently. What works for one family might not work for another (I've also heard the same for multiple children.) For our family - I'm okay letting her cry it out. Once she goes to sleep she stays asleep until the morning. She is a good kid and really that is all that we can ask for.

Good Night everyone - may your night be peaceful and full of sleep :)

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