Bed Time

All I heard while I was pregnant with GC was "get all the sleep you can now..." and to be honest with you I only had about 5 weeks of little sleep before GC started sleeping 8 hour stretches. I literally thought I birthed the best sleeper in the world, until she turned 6 months old. I blamed it on teething for the longest time. I never really rocked GC to bed, not even as a newborn. I always laid her down awake and she put herself to sleep. Summer came around and she all of a sudden needed to be rocked. Obviously I started it at some point and didn't even realize what I was doing. All summer I pretty much slept on the floor in her room because she would cry out needing a back pat, paci, or just some snuggles. I repeated over and over, "she will never sleep in our bed!" Never say never, my friends!!! August rolls around and all of a sudden the up and down nightly routine just wasn't so glamorous when the 5 am alarm clark started going off. That is when I decided well maybe she can sleep in our bed. Well, let's just say it was December and she was still sleeping in our bed. Caleb looked at me one night and said, "Claire, at some point we have to decide what kind of parents we want to be!" Boy that hit me hard! He was so right. In my classroom I run a pretty tight ship and don't let my kiddos get away with much, especially when I know they can do something better. I looked at Caleb and said, "you're right...she can sleep in her bed and she will, but just give me until Christmas break!" 

Christmas break rolled around and I was motivated to get GC in her bed and sleeping. I was determined. I bathed her, fed her a bottle, and immediately laid her down still awake. Night one was awful. I repeat awful. I laid her down and she screamed for one hour. Night two was better. We were down to about 40 minutes. Night three was even better. She only cried for 12 minutes or so. Night four was what we both had been waiting for. She laid down at 8 pm, cried until I shut the door, and then nothing... Not one peep until 9 am the next morning. Needless to say she has been taking naps better than she ever has before AND she is sleeping in her bed for 12 hour stretches. She can do it! I feel so much better. She is sleeping so much better. There is not a perfect way to parent or perfect routine or "way" but you do have to find what works for you and your family. Sleep is an essential and I am thankful we have finally found our groove. Speaking of essential, I also started diffusing  Peace and Calming at night. I definitely think it helps.