We just had a tough evening. Emmeline is a night owl and we have been trying to get her to go to bed earlier and up earlier. But she is so resistant to the change. Paul and I started the sleep struggle tonight around 9:30. It is now 12:30 and she is finally sleeping. She basically just fussed for the entire three hours. We did give up around 11:30 and let her play for about a half hour. That seemed to get her last bit of energy out enough to sleep. We have tried everything to get her to go to sleep earlier: a routine (with bath, book, nursing, etc), a fan for white noise, absolute quiet swaddling, unswaddling, night light, no light, rocking, walking, bouncing, "crying it out" (though just for a few minutes at a time), crib, co-sleeping, pack-n-play, a "lovey," a blankie, arg!
This late night routine is hurting us in a couple different ways. One, Paul and I have virtually no time for just the two of us. He is usually in bed before Emmeline is. Two, now that I am teaching I have to either say up really late or get up really early to finish my work. I work best at night so I usually stay up late to work. Three, because of problem number two, I have to sleep in with Emmeline thus making it difficult for me to get her up early to go to bed early.
People kept telling me that at six months everything would get easier. Still waiting...
Monday, January 14, 2008
Hoot Hoot
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3 comments:
She is so sweet. I look forward to seeing Emmeline again...and you guys too!!
Too bad it is not easy for you to take a drive around the block. That has worked for many people I know in the past. The other thing to try, although this could get a little scary, is to wake her up earlier on purpose. However, most kids turn into nasty little buggers when you do that! It will get better, honest. Try an actual noise machine with different options, like heartbeats and waves. That was what finally worked for Miriam. The downside--she always likes to have the machine on now, 8 years later! Hope to see you all soon.
I find that tranquilizers or a good stiff drink do wonders for putting children to sleep.
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