Ugh This Child!!

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

I just wanted to offer support/commiseration...I spent 2 hours (literally) getting D down to nap. Woke her up after a 3 hour nap (since it was basically dinner time) and then spent another hour getting her to sleep for bedtime. The bedtime wasn't bad...she was just laying there but the nap was horrendous. We lay together and she cried in my face for almost 2 hours. I cuddled, sang, shhhed, etc. and she fought sleep for SO long. It was sort of amazing.

[SoonerTexan]

How the hell do they do it?

[SoonerTexan]

So it's getting better! He's still up a lot at night and it's killing me sleep wise, but DH is going to help more now. But he goes back to sleep pretty easily in the middle of the night.

Tonight is the crowning joy, though...laid in the crib willingly!!!! He is pissed I moved across the room, but is going to sleep now. I have some new found free time in the evenings and it's great.

He randomly took a 3 hour nap this morning though--it freaked me, the nanny, and DH out. I had her wake him up

[L.Jane]

yay for progress!

[ladymoreta]

So awesome!! Great job!

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

I'm dying. Every frickin Saturday, every single one, it takes over 2 hours to get D down for nap. I know it's because it's me and not the nanny. I have all the mommy guilt in the world about it but I just can't do this anymore.

Her floor bed works great for nighttime and she STTN (better than her sister did) but naps are a complete nightmare for me. She will not lay down. After these Saturday performances, she is tired enough that usually Sunday naps happen.

Will this sleep shuffle business help me with naps or is it only nighttime? I have a feeling part of it is that I always do bed and it's dark so even though I have to sit there, she goes to sleep pretty quickly. Her room isn't bright but you can see some things. Please. Help.

[scrub-jay]

The sleep shuffle helps establish sleep cues that work for naptime too. We still had to invest in blackout curtains for our kids though.

[SoonerTexan]

Yeah, they had sections on naptime. Actually I don't think it was anything different. We haven't tried it yet. I have to say, naptime has improved, because he is willing to go in the crib now

[gem]

Weekend nap struggles are the worst. I hate feeling like we waste an entire Saturday afternoon fighting nap. Will she nap in the stroller? That's typically what we resort to for my toddler. It's not the same quality as a crib-nap, but it's enough to prevent total evening melt-down (and saves me from melting down on hour 3 of trying to soothe a toddler to sleep).

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

Weekend nap struggles are the worst. I hate feeling like we waste an entire Saturday afternoon fighting nap. Will she nap in the stroller? That's typically what we resort to for my toddler. It's not the same quality as a crib-nap, but it's enough to prevent total evening melt-down (and saves me from melting down on hour 3 of trying to soothe a toddler to sleep).

Can't because my older child is asleep while these battles are occurring so can't walk out of the house. She usually wakes up the moment I get the little one down. It's charming. Ok, clearly need to order this book.

I saw some negative reviews online that basically suggested it's like CIO but with mama present...I can't handle that, is that true?

[SoonerTexan]

I saw some negative reviews online that basically suggested it's like CIO but with mama present...I can't handle that, is that true?

I mean, I guess you could say that, but my problem with the Babywise version of CIO is that it starts so young and you aren't present. BabyJ was crying the first night a lot, but it wasn't because he felt abandoned and didn't know what was going on. He was just pissed. He knew exactly where I was. I'm okay with that.

[ladymoreta]

Same here, ST. Yes, they do cry, but it's fine to go to them as soon as it seems like anxiety or they're getting too worked up. I think of it a lot like teaching them other things. We had tears when I started teaching them Please and Thank You, too. They cry when they're not getting their way.

[SoonerTexan]

Really though, thank you ScrubJay and ladymoreta for recommending it. The concept in the book isn't really groundbreaking (I did it on my own with N), but guidance and plan in the book has been really helpful. We're still stuck patting BabyJ to bed most nights and he is still waking up a ton, but it is still much better than before. We can get him to bed in 15 min and he will willingly go in the crib. He's been a much happier kid going to bed earlier and he has been doing great with naps. I'm sure we will hit new roadblocks, but it has definitely been a good thing!

[OrionGrad]

[MENTION=1889]SoonerTexan[/MENTION] Any update on how this is working out now? I'm thinking about buying the SLS book and trying it with BabyT sometime next month.

[SoonerTexan]

Good! I'm still getting up 2-3x a night with him, but now the first two wakings are just a sip of water and being tucked back in. He gets more feisty at the 5ish wakeup and sometimes I just take him to bed to nurse then. But we've had nights with only 2 wakings and it is much easier to get him back down. Bedtime is easier too. I haven't followed through with the whole slowly moving further and further away, but he is easy enough to get to sleep now that I just don't want to bother.

Naps are better too. He rocks to sleep relatively easy now and will lay down. He still wakes up a lot though.

So much better.