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Will wonders never cease?
December 09, 2007
I'm going to assume that most of you are aware of Mia's sleeping habits up to this point. For those of you not in the know... let me summarize. She doesn't like to sleep. She never liked to sleep in her own bed, never wanted to go to bed on her own, never slept more than a few hours at a time unless someone was right next to her... you get the gist.
Well when we moved here we decided to try to push the sleep in your own bed idea. After months of working on this it seemed we were down to a routine of sitting by her bed while she fell asleep, then hoping she slept as long as possible since her awakening would mean someone, most likely me, would have to go sit in her room until she was asleep again. If you caught her early when she first awoke, then it wasn't usually too long until she was back to sleep. If you let her get all worked up or worse, sent Daddy in instead (*gasp*, the horrors!) then it could take a while to get back into the sleepy state.
A few weeks ago I started moving farther and farther from her bed while I waited for her to fall asleep. She protested at first, but came to accept this new plan. I was basically sitting in her doorway at night when we left on our trip the other week. I had no idea what we might be in for when we returned, but assumed it would be some sort of setback and we'd surely be back to more frequent nightwaking, and longer waits for her to fall asleep. Night one of our return: Something came over me and a CRAZY thought went through my head. Instead of stopping in her doorway to sit while she went to sleep, why don't I take another step and wait in the hall. I figured, what do I have to lose? This night is likely going to be a bust anyway. I stepped out into the hall and held my breath. Waited for the scream... Nothing. Nothing? Ok what if I take a few more steps to the top of the stairs? Surely she'll be mad about that. She always hears me get to the steps and wakes and screams even when I think she's already sound asleep. Um, still nothing? Not a peep? Next step... down, down, down. I just knew that when I got to the bottom she'd wake and I'd have to go back up and calm her down. But no, I made it all the way back downstairs, back to the living room, and sat down with this dazed look on my face. It was all quite confusing. To top that off, she didn't wake up until the next morning. What?
I assumed this was some kind of fluke. And couldn't possibly be replicated. But at bedtime, we went upstairs and tried the same thing. And got the SAME RESULTS! 32 second bedtime routine followed by a full night's sleep? There are no words to describe my surprise and confusion!
I hadn't mentioned this yet because I didn't want to jinx it, and honestly didn't really think it would become a new habit. But it's been over two full weeks of this now so I'm ready to call it a victory and make this official announcement! My child finally sleeps! Hooray!
Posted by Kimberly at December 9, 2007 02:12 PM
Comments
WHAT???? Your kidding! Thank goodness this all happened before the baby!!!
Posted by: jess at December 11, 2007 11:15 AM
Way to go Mia! I had no idea you were a sleeper!
Posted by: Erin at December 27, 2007 07:46 AM