This is how I found Lily one day after thinking she was asleep for a nap...well, I guess she was asleep just half naked and dangling from her changing table snoring.
The past couple of weeks have a been a rough patch for Lily and her sleeping habits. Since she was potty trained she seemed to have lost her zeal for taking naps and sleeping through the night. We've been lucky enough to have had very good sleepers in our house, even as babies, so I'm not used to this struggle. It started with her waking up in the early morning hours needing to use the bathroom but instead climbing in bed with her brothers and waking them up. I put a child lock on the outside of their door and it stopped that, she came to our room instead. It then progressed into not wanting to take naps so I figured she didn't need them and stopped trying to lay her down, but she eventually falls asleep on the couch late in the afternoon which would make for late nights. It turned into her downright refusing to go to bed.
One night she stripped naked and peed on the floor and then proceeded to play until we found her. This happened for a couple of nights, then she had a horrible night where she did her little peeing on the floor routine four times!!! It took her nearly 3 hours to get to bed that night. Oh, and this whole time she is still waking up in the wee morning hours and crawling into bed with us, which usually means kicking me out. I had had it at this point and decided I needed to employ a version of the bedtime routine I have seen on one of those "Nanny" shows. I put her to bed making sure all of her needs were met and stayed by her bedroom door. Every time, nearly 40 in total, she climbed out of bed I would promptly put her back in without talking or making eye contact.
I couldn't believe how stubborn she was about it. Really, 40 times crawling in and out of bedscreaming and crying at the top of her lungs!! It took about 1 1/2 hours to get her to sleep, but she never undressed. The past couple of nights she hasn't got out of bed and only cries about 10 minutes while I wait by her door for her to settle down. Now I have to figure out how to stop her from kicking me out of bed at 5 in the morning! I know this is a bit of a rant, but I AM TIRED! Being pregnant and not getting enough sleep is the worst, I'm hopeing she grows out of this fast.
One night she stripped naked and peed on the floor and then proceeded to play until we found her. This happened for a couple of nights, then she had a horrible night where she did her little peeing on the floor routine four times!!! It took her nearly 3 hours to get to bed that night. Oh, and this whole time she is still waking up in the wee morning hours and crawling into bed with us, which usually means kicking me out. I had had it at this point and decided I needed to employ a version of the bedtime routine I have seen on one of those "Nanny" shows. I put her to bed making sure all of her needs were met and stayed by her bedroom door. Every time, nearly 40 in total, she climbed out of bed I would promptly put her back in without talking or making eye contact.
I couldn't believe how stubborn she was about it. Really, 40 times crawling in and out of bedscreaming and crying at the top of her lungs!! It took about 1 1/2 hours to get her to sleep, but she never undressed. The past couple of nights she hasn't got out of bed and only cries about 10 minutes while I wait by her door for her to settle down. Now I have to figure out how to stop her from kicking me out of bed at 5 in the morning! I know this is a bit of a rant, but I AM TIRED! Being pregnant and not getting enough sleep is the worst, I'm hopeing she grows out of this fast.
5 comments:
There was an article in Parenting magazine a couple of months ago about how to get more mommy sleep when you have an early rising toddler. I'll see if I can find it, there were some pretty good tips in it.
Have you tried a baby gate on her door. i don't know if it will work for Lily but Teslie has learned that when the gate is up she has to stay in her room. we put her down for naps and bed at night w. it up and now she is use to it. At nap time she plays for a min and then puts herself to sleep.
i hope you figure something out. being sleep deprived is one thing preggo and sleep deprived is the worst
That picture is too funny.
Sounds rough! Stick to it though and she will get through this. Better to take care of it now with "tough love" than to suffer for 3 more years.
What a cutie! Sorry you've been struggling. :/ I know how tough that can be.
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