Anyway, so they told me that Skye needs to be on all table food and be completely off the bottle within the next three months. And the kicker was the sleeping. We've gotten ourselves into a bad habit of letting Skye sleep in the bed with us. Now, before you start gasping, keep in mind that this is a particularly new development. I always swore up and down that I would never let my kids sleep in my bed with me, but she just wanted to cuddle one night, and I just wanted to sleep. So we brought her to bed. And then it was just easy and comfortable to cuddle with her... until she wakes up and starts smacking and kicking you.
It's not like she spends the whole night in there. It's only the last few hours. You know, when she wakes up and 4, and we're in the home-stretch of our sleep marathon, and we just want to SLEEP as long as we can. Who wants to be bothered with trying to rock a baby back to sleep? I'd rather just cuddle in bed.
Anyway! We need to break the habit, and the doctor said that the only thing that we can do is let her cry it out. I know that there is much controversy surrounding this school of thought, and I don't want to get into that. The doctor assured me that at her age, she will not suffer long-term emotional distress from crying it out. So basically we just have to let her get groggy and then lay her down and leave. Problem is, no matter how tired she is, if Skye isn't completely out when her head hits the mattress, her eyes will pop open, and she'll be standing within seconds, begging to be picked up. And no one can resist a baby who wants to be held!
So tonight the crying began. I felt especially bad because she had three shots today. But we loaded her up on Tylenol and milk, read her a story, brushed her teeth, and then rocked and sang to her. She was just about to drift off when I laid her down and bolted for the door. And then the crying began. It only lasted about 15-20 minutes, but it was excruciating. After the yelping ceased, I asked Michael to check on her... there she lay, clutching her Teddo bear beneath her, as if she just passed out from sheer exhaustion from the crying. It was adorable, but I felt awful for putting her through that.
Needless to say, I'm dreading the second act which will probably begin around 3:30 or 4am. It's gonna be a long few weeks trying to get Skye's sleeping schedule to a healthy place. *sigh* I know it's better in the long run, but that doesn't make it any easier to endure. I wish that I could just get a really big crib so that I could sleep with her to comfort her. Seriously, she's one year old! I'm not ready to cut the apron strings! I miss my BABY!
4 comments:
Awww!
But what must done, must be done.
You're not a bad mom, Katie! You just want her happy, safe and secure. There's nothing wrong with that. Just know that it probably won't take her long to adjust, and then she'll be just fine. You can do it!!
Just as a follow up... Skye did not wake up at all in the middle of the night. Just before the alarm was to go off, Michael and I heard her in her room. We decided to stay in bed instead of jumping to her side. She stayed in her crib and quietly played while I pressed the snooze 3-4 times. When I finally got up, she was standing in her crib, ready to greet me. And never once did she cry!
So I thought that was a pretty sweet surprise. We'll see what happens tonight... ;)
I'm sure she'll be "cured" soon!
(I like that she calls it her Teddo bear!!!)
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