Friday, October 10, 2008

My mistake

It's all my fault. I really did have an eye for the future. I also thought it would cut down on tears. I really had good intentions. And now I'm paying for it.

When Charlotte and I were on vacation she slept in a big girl bed for the first time ever. I was worried she'd have problems like getting scared and falling out of bed. But she slept like a champ. She would go down without any fuss at bedtime and at naptime and would sleep wonderfully. Since my mom's house is two hours behind our house, when she woke up in the morning I would have her come crawl in bed with me and we'd cuddle for an hour or so. It was great, she did great.

Then we came home. I put her in her crib for a nap the Sunday after we came back. She screamed for half an hour was quiet for half an hour (notice I didn't say slept) and then decided she wanted out. So I made a decision. I decided to convert her crib into a day bed. It's simple, you just take the front side off and install the daybed pannel that comes with the crib and goes on the front. It worked great for a few days. Like a dream.

Yesterday however the tide turned. She decided that she had to take a nap with me in my bed. That was fine for a day I thought. I was taking a nap at the same time anyway and I do enjoy cuddling her. I indulged her wishes. But last night she woke up at 4:12 AM. Wide awake and screaming. Sometimes she'll do this for two nights and we just have to be firm and put her back in bed until she realizes that she has to go back to sleep. So Dan decided to start that routine. He went in and changed her diaper. Hugged her. Kissed her. Put her back in her bed. Then came about half an hour of her getting out of bed and running to me. I'd pick her up and put her back in bed go back to bed and she'd get out again. She was asking me to rock with her in her rocking chair. 4:30 in the morning isn't rocking in the rocking chair time. It's SLEEP time. So I didn't. After a half hour of no progress though I decided that I would put her down and sit by the door. That way she knew I would see her if she got out of bed. It worked. I stayed there for five minutes or so and then went to bed. She stayed in her bed.

The problem now was that I was completely awake. And so was she. After another 15 minutes or so I hear in her calm clear little voice, "poopy!" Then she said something and then said, "poopy!" again. I didn't believe her. Daniel had just changed her and she was fine and I was going to go to sleep. In about half a hour, right when I was thinking I'd actually get to go back to sleep she started screaming. Dan had to get up by then anyway so he went to check on her. Apparently when he changed her diaper in his groggy state he neglected to put the new one on all the way and she peed and it was all over her and her bed. I made a valiant effort to get her to sleep with me in my bed while Dan was getting ready for school, but it was to no avail.

So I got up for the day today at 4:12 AM. She's had three less hours of sleep than she should have. I'm longing for nap time and also dreading the in and out of bed routine I'm fairly certain will happen. Making her crib a day bed was a mistake.

3 comments:

Behrmans said...

Maggie… I wish I could say this will go away fast but all I have to say is that this lasted for over a year with Caleb. If I can share any helpful advice is lay down the law right now. Put her in her room and let her cry it out. Each time we return from a trip it’s a readjustment period and it’s hard. Last time we returned from CA we just fought the kids for 2 nights and they were back on schedule. Hopefully tonight will be a night full of sleep for the whole family.

Miss ya!!!

Maggie said...

Thanks Tammy. It's always good to hear support from you. I WISH her door latched, but in our old house they don't. They will eventually, but that's one of the many eventuallies way down on the list. As it is she can get out of her room no problem.

Mindy said...

So, how did the weekend go? Did you put the side back up?