And miles to go before she sleeps (Part Two) …
Our long national nightmare is over!
The Noodle slept from 8:30 to 6am, when we had to wake her up! I feel 15 years younger. The Noodle was psyched as ever to see us this morning and is currently clapping and laughing. Let me tell you what happened after her morning nap yesterday:
1:25pm: I put the Noodle down for a nap. She instantly started crying and I thought, oh god, here we go again. I talked to a friend of mine and experienced mom (she has a 4-year old), and she held my hand through the tears (The Noodle’s and mine)
1:30pm: The crying abruptly stopped and the Noodle started talking to herself. She jibbered and jabbered for about half an hour. We really need one of those video monitors so I can see what she’s talking to. I’m guessing her bear, and possibly her feet.
2:00pm: An insane scream. I run to the bedroom to rescue her from the monster/kidnapper/ghost and instead I’m met with the most heart-breaking sight. The Noodle is sitting in the middle of her crib, holding Skinflap, looking down at her bear, and sobbing. OK, this has gone far enough, there’s only so much we both can bear and my mommy instincts took over. I scooped her up and ended the nap.
3:15pm: Slept in the stroller on our way to Brooklyn Bridge Park.
4:00pm: Awake. Smiling. Crawling. Pointing, that’s new!
5:30pm: Met with Mr. Disgruntled and rehashed last night’s events. We decide that it was just too stressful for all of us. We were both exhausted all day with headaches, and even though the Noodle seemed fine, her parents were drained, so we decide to give her back her pacifier. I still won’t nurse her to sleep, but I am going to nurse her before bed. That quiet time is my favorite part of the day, I just have to make sure she doesn’t drift off to sleep before I put her down.
8:30pm: We’re running a bit late and she’s super cranky, no story time tonight. I nurse and sing to her, she’s drowsy, but her eyes are open and she’s looking right through me and the rest of the world falls away. When she finishes, I burp her. As a side note: if you’re trying to teach your baby to sleep*, and she falls asleep on your breast, burping is a good way to wake them a little. You want them to be awake in their crib when you leave them.
8:45pm: I give her the pacifier and set her in the crib. No crying, in fact, she seems … calm? I give her Ramone**, say good night, and leave. Still no crying. I’m stunned. Mr. Disgruntled gives me the “WTF” face, he can’t believe it either. We sit next to each other on the couch and stare at the monitor, waiting for the wailing to start and there’s just silence.
12:20am, 3:00am, 5:15am: she woke up crying, but went back to sleep on her own within 2-3 minutes.
6:15am: I went to the bedroom to wake her up. You read that right: Wake. Her. Up! She cried a little, I picked her up and brought her to bed (we’re still on the pull-out sofa). She nursed and I’ve discovered another amazing time of day. We’re both rested so instead of the slapping the sleep-deprived mama game, she’s smiling and I’m singing and this is SO awesome. Accidents was right, it’s like the spell was broken.
The Ferber approach helps you diagnose your kid’s sleep problems and offers solutions to help your family get a good night’s sleep. But I learned that it’s by no means firm — in fact, reading Accidents’ post on sleep-training helped me gain some perspective. The first night, we followed his approach to the letter and while she did sleep, it was harrowing at best. The second night, we deviated from the script a bit by returning her pacifier and it was pure bliss.
I can’t wait for bedtime tonight!
P.S. Thanks to @Accidents, @Megshernandez, @FormulaFeeder, @Megan, my best friend K., and all the other parents and non-parents who supported us through this ordeal.
* I hate the term “sleep training,” it makes your baby seem like a dog or a circus bear.
** Skinflap has a name! Mr. Disgruntled has been singing “Sheena is a Punk Rocker” by The Ramones, substituting “The Noodle” for “Sheena”
