Tuesday, November 27, 2012

our badass parenting skills.

my father in law snapped these over the weekend of her...she adores dogs...especially Olive.

Remember a couple weeks ago when I confessed our little angel became a screaming m
monster once it was bedtime?  It started when she was sick and we would hold her upright almost all night so she could breathe...that led to never wanting to be in her crib...which led to a few weeks of her sleeping with us in our bed. 

Not going to lie...it was nice to spend those extra hours with her in our bed...and to have her cozy up to me in her sleep...and wake up with a big "MAMA!!" and a showering of kisses.  But.  We have another baby coming SOON and no way do we want the whole family in bed with us.  And everyone I know who has let their toddlers sleep with them have a wicked hard time transitioning them to their own beds...and warn us repeatedly not to get in the habit!
playing with auntie jane and olivia

It should also be mentioned that we have been traveling a ton...a few jaunts to Rhode Island and one biggie to Arizona - all of those things throw little Clara off of her sleep schedule.  We decided this was the week to set it straight. 

So.  Sunday night we did the evening routine...dinner...play time together...bath...pajamas...brush teeth...story time.  But after story time, we said good night, gave hugs and kisses and put her in her crib.

my tired cookie.


She cried.  And after 5 minutes, I went in to give her a hug, rub her back for a few seconds and to tell her we love her and it's bedtime.  Then I left.  She kept crying.  Another 7 minutes went by...and Tommy went in and did what I had just done.  She kept crying.  We let 9 minutes go by...went in again to soothe her.  She kept crying...but it started to slow.  And then... she was sleeping.  And she slept for 13.5 hours straight.  No middle of the night battle cry.  Not even a peep.

We didn't think we won so easy.  We were anticipating at least a couple weeks of having to do this.  But the next night she mildly fussed for about 3 minutes when we put her in the crib...and then she slept...for over 12 hours again.  Tonight, when I put her in the crib, she didn't even whimper. 

i love pictures of me and my little love!

We got the sleep technique from a parenting website, and confirmed it in a couple baby sleep books that we had on hand.  (Lest we do something horrible to scar the poor baby during these formative years!)  And now we are putting ourselves up for Parenting of the Freakin' Year Award because we've had a couple of successful nights in a row.  Ha! 


5 comments:

  1. oh man, we just started the nightime fussiness...it's so hard!!

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  2. This post made me laugh out loud. Yes, you do deserve the "Parenting of the Freakin Year" award.

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  3. I am surprised but glad at the same time that you keep the dog around, near the baby. There are a lot that say it isn't hygienic mostly plus the jealousy of both sides can interfere.

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  4. Did you guys try the sleep routine earlier than now?

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    Replies
    1. we have had her on a sleep routine since she was around 6 weeks old. so we really just had to reintroduce her to the routine.

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