Baby Chickadee slept til 7 this morning after going to sleep at 9 o’clock last night. First time she’s done this in NINE MONTHS. And since she is nine months old tomorrow (happy birthday, sweet thing!) this means it is the first time she has done it EVER.
In the beginning she slept a good five hours at a time. Then she slipped to three-and-a-half hours, and lately it has been every two. I KID YOU NOT. It is ridiculous and right now you are all screaming at your computer and saying “Let her cry it out! She is old enough!” And she definitely is. But Hubby is weak and I am sleep-deprived and in the middle of the night we are on auto-pilot and go to her at her first squeal before realizing that girl should not be stirring.
Last week I started letting her cry it out in her crib during nap time. You all know this was a big step for me because I didn’t let the older two cry it out until Little Missy was nearly two-and-a-half years old. By that time G was four and like “Whatever. I’m good. I can fall asleep by myself.”
But they were always much easier to put to sleep, even as babies. They’d fall asleep on our chests and sweetly lie next to us in bed all night long. Baby Chickadee will not do that. She does not want to be snuggled to sleep, she does not want to sleep by herself, she is just very difficult. Which is a 180 from where she was in the beginning. In the beginning she’d fall asleep on my chest or in her crib or on the floor as she looked at her toys. Oh what a difference a few months can make.
We saw some progress while Hubby and I skiied in Colorado. The baby slept until 4:30 a. for my mother-in-law and then until 6:30 a. for my parents. Baby Chickadee showed her hand. She is completely able to sleep longer but just chooses not to. Spoiled little thing. When we got home she slept til 4:30 or 5 that first night and then progressively started waking up earlier. When she started crying a mere two hours after going to sleep I almost flipped. Well, there is no “almost” about it. I did flip. The sleep-deprivation and hormones and Hubby groggily going to get her without asking me and I flipped out. It wasn’t pretty and very silly and luckily Hubby forgave me for my craziness.
So I asked Chrissa to pray for me, I earnestly started praying for something, anything, that will make it better. I needed me and Hubby to be on the same page, I needed my sleep to be restorative, I needed that little baby to not fight sleeping in the crib. The first one was a must and I left it up to God which of last two he’d choose.
Then this morning that girl slept til 7 in the morning. I’m not saying she’ll do this every night, but one night of sleeping eight hours is amazing. Look at all that I’m doing today: column, blog, laundry, dishes, beds made, ALL IN ONE DAY.
Next up: marathon. I am super woman on eight hours of sleep.
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Sleep does make all the difference for a Mommy! I remember letting the girls cry it out as soon as they were old enough (about 6 months) because with two there was no other alternative. One liked to rock and the other liked to walk, and when one cried it woke the other up…it was a must. When Garret,t and then later Brooklyn, came along I longed to rock them to sleep and they both did great, until one day they did not. Both had been so good to snuggle until falling asleep and then sleep in their beds all night, but gradually it got to be later and later before they fell asleep and then, if they woke in the night, they couldn’t put themselves back to sleep. I learned that the older kids are the longer it takes for them to learn to go to sleep by themselves…maybe because they are more stubborn…however I wouldn’t trade the hours of rocking for anything. I can say that now that I FINALLY get to sleep through the night! I will be praying for your sanity as Baby Chickadee learns this valuable life skill!