At this very moment Anna is in bed, where she has been for almost an hour and a half without sleeping. If this were a one time experience I would not be writing about it, but I am at the end of my patience at the moment because she does this quite often. It's always in the afternoon or evening; she goes down for her morning nap without a fight.
Here's the routine: nurse Anna, make sure her diaper is clean, then lay her down in bed with her pacifier and bear blanky.
1 minute later: Anna is standing up in her crib, banging on the wall and yelling and babbling.
2 minutes after that: Anna is tired of banging and yelling but can't get down from the side of the crib. Begins screaming.
Few seconds later: I go in her room, lay her down again, crawl on the floor for 2 minutes looking for the thrown pacifier, put it in Anna's mouth, tell her to go to sleep, leave.
Repeat. Over and over and over. For 2 hours.
After 2 hours: nurse Anna again (she's hungry by now) and she goes to sleep while nursing. Frustration.
Right now I'm trying to decide if it is worth it for her to go to sleep on her own or if I should just go nurse her. It is so frustrating because I know she can go to sleep on her own; she usually does in the morning. I always have this dilemma of whether I should feed her and let her go to sleep eating or whether I should keep laying her down until she goes to sleep. It's basically a lose-lose situation for me because she doesn't go to sleep on her own when I feed her, but if I don't feed her she won't sleep very long because she is hungry. What to do?
I always give in. She's just too pathetic.
Oh, I forgot the step where she cries uncontrollably until I pick her up and try to rock her to sleep. After several minutes of trying to control the squirming Anna is placed back in bed to scream again. I love being a mom!
3 and 6
6 years ago
6 comments:
A ONE HOUR NAP IS ENOUGH! She is getting to the age where she doesn't need a nap longer than an hour in the morning. And whatever you, don't feed her to sleep. I am telling you from too much experience, that she won't get over that need until she's 2 years old! Sadie still wants something to eat right before bed, and she wakes up for a drink. I have learned that if a kid is ahppy, don't let them stay in the crib. Take Anna out if she has slept an hour, and then give her an hour nap later. I know you didn't really ask for advice, but I have lived this, and the twins do better becasue I followed the rules I made up after messing Sadie up. Good luck!
Oh, one more thing. Does she eat any solid foods yet? How old is she? She might need to start on some rice cereal. That helped my kids sleep better, being started on solids. Anyway, I'm not a pro, but those are somethings that helped me!
Oh the joys of parenting. Hang in there, she'll soon be over this stage (and on to another equally annoying and frustrating one). I too would NOT recommend nursing to sleep, it just sets you up for a bunch of problems later on. Above all, you are THE mom. You know Anna better than anyone and you will find something that works for you. So, basically what I am saying is advice is great if it works for you, but YOU know best. I'm sure you'll figure it out soon. It takes a little trial and error, but you'll get it.
Andrea, I am so sorry... this is a biggest pain. It will go away soon enough though. Just keep doing what your doing. She'll learn that you just go to sleep when you in your crib. Good luck with everything... its not fun but it is worth it in the end!!!
Ahhh! I'm going through this exact same thing with Maya and it makes me crazy! Now that Maya has her cast off she stands up in her crib biting her side rail and wailing at the top of her lungs until she works herself into a frenzy that is only controllable after half an hour of being consolled.. I guess I need super nanny or something already! My patience is definitely being tried! Lets get together sometime SOON!
I love it! Funny that I read this as I'm listening to Lucy calling "Mommy!", and she's been in bed for an hour now too. But yeah, when Lucy was that age, I kinda went through the same thing. Only for me it was with her waking up at night. The doctors kept saying it was time for her to stop waking up and I just needed to let her cry, but if I let her cry, she kept me awake. If I went in and nursed her, she would go right back down for the rest of the night, so I could too. Yeah, I like sleeping way too much (we all know) to even consider the other option. But when she was good and ready, she decided she was done waking up at night on her own. It was right when she turned one, it was like someone flipped a switch. Someday you'll look back at this time, and it will all be just a memory! PS, your family picture is stinking adorable!!!
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