So, last night I gave Rachel her bottle and a bath, snuggled her into her sleepsack and rocked her while I sang three songs, softly (I tend to go for '60s protest songs and union-friendly tunes, could be because of the way I feel about the economy and work in general these days). She was in that sleepy stage but woke up and started crying as soon as I put her in the crib.
And then she did something that broke my heart: She got up on her knees, leaned against the crib and held her arms out to me as if to say, "Mommy! Mommy! Please don't go!" Her little face was streaked with tears.
But Drew and I have decided she needs to learn to fall asleep on her own, so I patted her and said, "night-night Rachel, time to go to sleep," and left the room. Her cries turned into screams of rage. I used the Ferber method -- went in after five minutes, patted her, then left. I didn't even have to get to 10 minutes before she was fast asleep.
That lasted until 2:30 a.m., when she woke up screaming again and Drew went in and changed her diaper. She was sitting up in the crib and clearly wanted to be picked up and rocked, but he refused to do so. She was crying when he left the room but settled down after 10 minutes. And then slept until 7:45 this morning!
I, of course, was up at 5:30 and then got up for good at 6:30. My ability to sleep late, even when I have the chance to, is gone.
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yay, tough love works sometimes! when we try to Ferber Marigold, she'll stand at her crib and cry for an hour, especially during the middle of the night (sometimes she'll go to sleep at first on her own, though, provided she's tired enough).
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