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Thursday, April 18, 2013

Sleep is Overrated

When I started my job back in September, Puff and I made the worst parenting mistake we've made yet... Operation Cry It Out. (HERE)
 
 
 
It was just too much all at once. I wasn't here with her all day. She had a new nanny. She was able to roll over to her stomach but not back again. It was the worst week of our lives together.
 
After I wrote that post, I promised an update.
 
Here we are 7 months later. She is roughly 11 months old. And how is Bimmer doing with the whole sleeping in her crib?
 
She isn't.
 
And that has been a conscious decision on Puff's and my behalf. We had good intentions of doing it around the holidays when our work load was lighter, but then she was constantly sick. I wasn't about to put a baby with a snotty nose and cough through that transition. Then the spring came and she had ear infections and I had crazy weeks at work where I couldn't be sleep deprived. Then we were out of town for Easter and the weekend following. No time to do it in April.
 
Why not May? Well, because we have a lot of travel plans. And I refuse to do this transition twice.
 
So... June it is. She will be 12-13 months old and it will be time for her to just deal with it. I know it's going to be difficult. We are probably going to have to come up with a plan of attack before we start. I know the "going in every 5 minutes to soothe her" route won't work for us. We are either going to have to go cold turkey or we are going to have to do the "stay with her and rub her back until she falls asleep even if it takes hours" approach. I've got some time to decide.
 
I will desperately miss falling asleep with her on my chest. Yes, even at this age, she still does that every night. I hold her for most naps too. I'll miss being able to wake up to her little hand resting on my arm. Or being able to reach over to touch her back, just to check that she's still breathing. It won't just be hard for Bimmer, it will be hard for me too.
 
But it's time. Puff and I need quality time together. We are ready to have some cuddle time of our own. I am ready to not have to go to bed at 8:30pm every night (although, I'm really not complaining) so that I can catch up on TV shows and blogging and getting chores done around the house. And maybe this will give us time to work on that sibling Bimmer so adamantly opposes. :)

2 comments:

The Fischer Family said...

You can do it!! Eli became our co-sleeping baby. We didn't intend to but I loved it while it lasted! Have you seen Super Nanny's sleep technique? We've used it and it really works!

Gail said...

No - I will have to try to Google it to find it!