The Battle for Sleep – Days 2 and 3

Day 2

Ariella got her cereal, bath and her Momma Milk before being put down around 8:00ish.  She fussed a little bit at first but then went right to sleep, with Momma pretty much right behind her.  She woke up a few times during the night, but was able to get herself back to sleep pretty well after a few minutes.

She woke up at 2:30am crying pretty hard, I waited a few minutes, but then decided to get up and change her diaper.  Then I did feed her with the thought that she did make it through half the night wthout anything, and if she woke up again after that I would try to get her back to sleep without.  She went back to sleep without a problem, however and didn’t wake up until her usual 7am.

Not a bad night.

Day 3

Tonight we had some errands to run in the earlier evening, so she fell asleep in the car around 5 and woke up when we got home @ 5:30ish.  Therefore, I figured she would not be that tired until a bit later on.  We went without a bath tonight, as I wasn’t sure exactly when she might be ready to go to sleep.

After we made our dinner, we all sat down to eat together around 6ish. We played in her “Zoo” for a while and she was very happy and having lots of fun with Daddy.  We did not give her cereal tonight because she had a later dinner.  Around 8pm, she started getting fussy, so we got her ready for bed and Daddy read her a story.  She was very hungry so I nursed her and she seemed really sleepy, however woke up when I got up to put her into the crib.

All the information I have read tells you to put them into the crib when they are “awake but drowsy”.  This pretty much described her and I thought she might fall asleep easier after a few minutes.  Not the case.  She screamed/cried/had a tantrum for about 30 minutes.  She is sleeping right now.

This is the most difficult thing so far I have had to go through.  There is a huge part of me that thinks I should not be putting her through this.  The crying is too much and she is so small.  Then there is the other side who wants to help her get through on her own, with some semblance of independence.  I understand that she is only 6 months old, and I guess that is where part of my dichotomy comes in.   Am I doing the right thing for her?  Will she hate me in the morning?  Is she really learning something from this?  Or being put through hell just for Derek and my comfort?

We’ll try it out for a few more nights and see where we are I guess.  Derek was going from her room to me in his office, comforting us both.  🙁  God help me get through this.