Saturday 22 November 2014

Sleep training: The first night

7:45: Bella falls fast asleep.
9:30: Begins to toss and turn
9:36: Up she goes and the cries begin.
9:55: Screaming is a more accurate term. Screaming so loud that it's echoing in my brain...Tears are flowing down her sweet face faster than I can wipe them away. This is hard, but I need to stick with it. It's for her benefit just as much as my own. I need to remember that if I pick her up, it's just teaching her that if she cries for long enough, Mommy will give in and give her what she wants. I need to stay strong...this is in our best interest. As her cries keep going though, I'm sending up urgent prayers in hopes that she is able to calm down soon. She is SO upset...poor, sweet baby...
10:06: She has finally agreed to lay down. As her sobs subside, she turns to me frequently to make sure I am still really there. "I'm still here, sweetie," I whisper, "I'll be here all night and every night until you get the hang of this."
10:12: I'm afraid to move closer in fear that I'll disturb her, but I think she may actually have fallen asleep. <pheewwww> Made it through the first round without caving! Now for how many more?
10:58: Bella woke, stood and cried for four minutes before allowing me to guide her back down to sleeping position.
11:04: Woke again, cried for about a minute before lying down on her own and falling back asleep.
I'm wondering if she'll continue to wake up throughout the night, or if she'll at some point let her tired self sleep for at least a couple hours? Only time will tell.
2:06: Woke up again, cried and screamed until what seemed like forever. She seems to get more upset when her father tries to comfort her, perhaps because she knows she can't get milk from him?? Or perhaps because I am usually the one that comforts her during her late night wakings. By 2:25 she's asleep again after I've finally convinced her lay down. I've decided to camp out right next to her play pen on a spare mattress so that she can see me through the mesh. I might not be able to pick her up or feed her, but at least she'll be able to find comfort in seeing that I'm close by. I've also placed her favorite teddy bear inside the playpen so that she has somebody special to hold on to during those back-arching screams.
4:30: Bella woke again for a couple minutes. She stood up and wailed, but sat down on her own this time perhaps because she was so tired.
6:30: Bella is wide awake, standing up in her playpen, but not crying. She knows it's finally time to get those hugs she's been waiting all night for. I take her out and she giggles with delight. Bella continues to crawl all over our bedroom for next hour or so laughing to herself, hugging me and climbing on me. She is a VERY good mood!


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