Elusive Baby Sleep

And so the adventure continues....

We've had a few big nighttime routine fails. One night we didn't have any cold water so I had to boil three kettles worth for her bath, meanwhile she's hanging out on the bathroom floor. Then she managed to pull out the plug mid-bath and water starts leaking all over the floor. Then I decided to change the bedtime routine because while she's relaxed in the bath, getting out of the bath is less than fun for her. So let's replace it with some naked time on the floor, maybe a little massage. Even got some lavender lotion. Fail. She was overtired and just screamed.

BUT last night she stayed down her longest stint yet, 2 and a half hours. I've been putting her to sleep in the chair, down in the crib, then doing one more wake up, putting her down in the bassinet, then bringing her to bed. She usually lasts 1.5-2 hours the first time and anywhere from 0.5-1.5 hours the second time. By then, I'm so exhausted, I just can't do it again (since we're usually in the rocking chair for 0.5-1 hour each time to get her asleep enough to put down).

It's been trying, to say the least. During her morning nap today she didn't even make it to the crib. The second I put her down, she woke up. Then I tried a second time, woke up right away. Finally I just needed her to sleep so I sat with her in the chair for the remainder of the nap.

It's hard because at least before I could hang out with her in the living room, watch some TV. Now I'm just bored in the bedroom, tied to the damned chair for however long it takes to get her to sleep. I'm still not entirely sure how I'm going to transition away from nursing her to sleep. It inhibits what we can do too, going out is hard because she won't fall asleep in the stroller anymore, no matter how tired she is. Yesterday I had to sit with her on a bench at the mall for over an hour while she napped on me under the nursing cover. Luckily I was hanging out with another mom who understood what I was going through!

Two separate people in my life right now have just started "Crying It Out" (CIO). Both are having great success with it three days in. I'm still on the fence. I see it as a last resort. Most tips I've gotten for putting babies down aren't super helpful.

"Put them down while they're drowsy, but still awake." Ok, so then what do I do when she (inevitably) starts crying (aka immediately). Her eyes snap open and all my "getting her drowsy" work goes out the window.

What scared the shit out of me with the CIO is the claim that sleep training causes brain damage and other horrible claims that test the limits of parental guilt for even considering it. Then my sister directed me to this great article. I agree that if science is to be used to substantiate emotional claims, it'd better be accurate, rather than extrapolation, conjecture, and in some cases, just plain wishful thinking. Letting your child cry for hours clearly isn't ideal: find me one parent who decided that this was a good first choice (who isn't otherwise neglectful or abusive). But for some kids (like my nephew), it turned into a last choice, and one that's working.

I'm still just in the beginning stages of Ezri's new sleep routine, so we'll see how it goes. Right now, nap #2 of the day is in progress and she's in the crib. For now.

That's what it always seems to be... "Ezri's asleep.... for now."