Repetative Reassurance

aka Cry It Out for suckers.  :)  On Tuesday, Evelyn had her 9 month doctor's appointment.  I LOVE our pediatrician.  When I'm talking to her, I feel like I'm talking to a friend (which she is!), just bragging about my baby.  One of the things I brought up at this appointment was Evelyn's lack of sleeping through the night.  I explained that I know she can do it, because she will randomly, and going to sleep is not the problem, it's the 11, 12, 1 am wake ups once a night.  She is okay with me giving Evelyn a bottle to get her asleep (Good!  I would HATE to give that up, it's my favorite part of the day!!), and suggested I do what she calls "Repetative Reassurance".  So we started last night.

Evelyn went down really easy, even a little bit early.  She slept from 8:20 until 10:20, and then she was up and not so happy.  I went in a few minutes after she woke up and rubbed her back, kissed her, told her how much I loved her and that I would see her in the morning.  And then I backed out and closed the door.  It was over!  I could almost hear her saying "What was that!  She left?  Just like that?!  Oh no she didn't!" and the crying got louder.  Fifteen minutes later, I went in again.  She was still pretty mad, and standing up in the crib, and I did the same thing again.  In & out in less than 30 seconds or so.  She got mad again, but seemed to calm down and just fussed here and there.  The third time I went in, she didn't put up as much of a fight, and I just kissed her and rubbed her back and head, and told her that I loved her and I'd see her in the morning.  And she got mad again.  A couple minutes before I was going to head in there again, it got quiet.  Had she gone to sleep?  Fuss.  Nope.  But then it got quiet again for about 10 minutes.  And then I guess she realized that I hadn't been in there for a while, and really let me hear about it.  So one more time, I went in for about 30 seconds, and when I came back out, it only took about 5 minutes before it was quiet.  It was exactly an hour from the time she woke up, until she went back to sleep, and then she slept until 8, and was quiet in her crib until close to 9!  Not bad for the first night I think.  So what was I doing when she was trying to get back to sleep?  Pinterest.  Hahahaha.


Now tonight.  Evelyn got to sleep very quickly, but then I held her for a while.  I was at the very end of my book & wanted to finish it tonight.  :)  Plus, I got some extra snuggles with my baby!  She woke up as I was reading the last chapter (of course!!  How does she always know?!), so I let her finish the bottle.  It was about 8:50 that she fell asleep the first time, then around 9:30 when I laid her down asleep.  She slept until around 11:10, and then I went in around 11:15.  Again, she didn't like that I came in without picking her up, but she stayed laying down, and really didn't get super mad like she did last night.  But she was still mad.  A couple more times in and out, rubbing her back, kissing her & telling her how much I love her, and then backing out and closing the door.  Every time around the 15 minute mark, she gets quiet for a minute, and then cries even more.  And then I go in there, and it's almost worse when I back out.  But she gets to sleep.

This morning, I was worried that she would be upset when she woke up since she cried so much going to sleep.  Nope.  Happy as could be!  She rolled around and played and who knows what in her crib for more than 45 minutes this morning before she let me know she was ready to get up, and then she was happy all day until the lack of an afternoon nap caught up with us!  :)  It's all good!  As for me, I'm doing pretty good too.  Carl worries about me, because the nights that I've let her cry before have been when I am so totally exhausted I don't know what else to do.  But this is easier.  It's planned, I'm not quite to the exhausted point, and I know if I keep it up it will be worth it.  Plus, I've heard that if you give in half way through, it makes the next night, or whenever you try again 10x worse.  Dr. Shaw told me it will most likely work in 2-3 nights, and the longest she's heard from her parents is 7.  I can do this!

Right now, it's close to midnight.  I've been in 3 times, and due for a fourth in a few minutes.  While she's not crying, I still hear a little babbling from time to time, but it's getting quieter.  Last night I went in 4 times over an hour, and it looks like tonight will be about the same.  Here's hoping that Miss E gets the clue that I love her and love snuggling and kissing on her, but I'm ready to sleep all night too!  :)