More on napping
Our nap training seems to have worked, keeping my fingers crossed (sort of) as I write this. Today we put Daisy down in her crib, awake, for her nap--and at a normal time--and she went to sleep. No crying. And yesterday, Mark did the routine successfully without my having to be present. (I should probably clarify that when I say we put her down "awake," I don't mean that we don't try to help her get to a sleepy place; we wait till she seems tired and then we do our lovely routine, where we read her some books in the rocking chair and then give her some milk. But then, instead of rocking her endlessly till she falls asleep, we say it's nap time and put her in her crib with her stuffed animals and her cozy blankie and let her fall asleep on her own.)
So: I venture to say she is getting used to it. We endured three days of crying (where we let her cry for between 20 and 30 minutes), and since then, the nap routine has been painless for all. Assuming this has really worked, and will continue to go smoothly, I have to say it was well worth it. Rocking her to sleep was certainly not working anymore. She was wiggling madly and trying to climb off our laps-- and sometimes it was taking me up to an hour to get her to sleep. Then, when I'd stand up from the rocker and put her down in the crib, she was often sitting up and screaming. My mom had told us, too, that with her back problems, it was getting almost impossible to stand up from the rocker holding Daisy--and there will be days when Mark and I are working and Mom will have to do the nap herself--so we NEEDED a new routine. This is better, easier, and there's something more honest and forthright about it.
Again, assuming this will continue to work, I have to say I am proud of us. This week wasn't easy. We both hate the sound of her crying more than anything. So I am proud of us for trying something different when we recognized our old method was getting unpracticable; coming up with our own variation on the "crying" method that felt humane and do-able; being consistent all week and following through on our plan; not giving up when it felt almost unbearably hard; and, hopefully, succeeding. And I am proud of our little Daisy for adjusting so well. I DON'T say we will never have sleep problems again, because I'm sure we will, and it's to be expected. But this is progress!
So: I venture to say she is getting used to it. We endured three days of crying (where we let her cry for between 20 and 30 minutes), and since then, the nap routine has been painless for all. Assuming this has really worked, and will continue to go smoothly, I have to say it was well worth it. Rocking her to sleep was certainly not working anymore. She was wiggling madly and trying to climb off our laps-- and sometimes it was taking me up to an hour to get her to sleep. Then, when I'd stand up from the rocker and put her down in the crib, she was often sitting up and screaming. My mom had told us, too, that with her back problems, it was getting almost impossible to stand up from the rocker holding Daisy--and there will be days when Mark and I are working and Mom will have to do the nap herself--so we NEEDED a new routine. This is better, easier, and there's something more honest and forthright about it.
Again, assuming this will continue to work, I have to say I am proud of us. This week wasn't easy. We both hate the sound of her crying more than anything. So I am proud of us for trying something different when we recognized our old method was getting unpracticable; coming up with our own variation on the "crying" method that felt humane and do-able; being consistent all week and following through on our plan; not giving up when it felt almost unbearably hard; and, hopefully, succeeding. And I am proud of our little Daisy for adjusting so well. I DON'T say we will never have sleep problems again, because I'm sure we will, and it's to be expected. But this is progress!
posted by Sarah Goss at 8:47 PM
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