Sleep, Baby, Sleep!

It's no secret I'm a sleep nazi.  I feel extremely strongly about the importance of sleep for happy, healthy children, so we're sticklers for bedtimes and naps. 

Nellie, however, has a differing opinion.  She thinks naps are for babies. There is way too much interesting stuff happening around her to be willing to consent to close her eyes and possibly miss anything.

Even from her youngest days, her eyes would pop open immediately as soon as I laid her sweet, sleeping body down.  I survived those first few months by keeping her in my wrap, where she would (initially at least) sleep quite contentedly. 

As she grew older, that system stopped working quite so well.  Instead, I would drape a blanket over her head, bounce her to sleep, then lay her, asleep, in her crib.  For a couple months, this mostly worked. 

However, instead of becoming a better sleeper, she got progressively worse.  I'd get her to sleep and lay her down, and she'd immediately start screaming.  So I'd start over.  Rinse, repeat.  Rinse repeat.  All. Day. Long.  Grumpy baby, grumpy mommy.

The only way she'd stay asleep is if I sat and held her the entire duration of her nap.  As lovely as that sometimes sounds, it's completely impractical for a homeschooling mother of five kids.

I'm aware, from past experiences both good and bad, that there's a prime "learn to sleep" window between ages 5-7 months.  When I got back from my trip to California, I knew Nellie was right smack in the middle of that window.  I also knew that the status quo was untenable - something had to change.  Yet, just like potty training and labor, I dreaded the process necessary to reach the desired outcome.  Sleep training is so hard, physically and emotionally!

Little Nellie is a fighter.  I'm sure this personality characteristic will serve her well in her life.  It did not serve us well for learning to sleep.  We had a rough, rough go of it. 

Faces of sleep deprivation

I readily admit that there were points when I really, really wanted to give up.  But in the middle was no-man's land; My previous get-baby-to-sleep tricks no longer worked.  There was no going back.

Nellie is still not a star sleeper.  She still fights and cries every single time I put her in her crib.  BUT.  At least she's taking naps.  At least I have time during the day where she's not in my arms and I can get a few things accomplished.  At least she can go to bed at 7pm when she's tired and I can have my evening back (hallelujah!!).

 

That's the good side of things.  On the downside, she is completely ruined to sleeping anywhere but her crib.  She will no longer fall asleep in my wrap.  She will no longer consent to being rocked or bounced to sleep.  "Oh, don't worry," people say, "if she's tired, she'll fall asleep."

They don't know Nellie.  If we are out and about she will. not. sleep.  On a regular basis we will be gone the entire day (poor fifth child) and she won't sleep at all no matter what I try.  She's completely exhausted and miserable.  

Last week all the kids (except Nellie) got the pukes.  As a result, we cancelled most of our scheduled outings.  It was a lovely sleep week for Miss Nell.  So, as long as I don't go anywhere in the mornings or afternoons for the next four to seven months, we should be just fine.

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Since I'm talking about Nellie, let me give a few more updates...

She is eight months old now!  She is a very serious baby - super observant and aware of everything around her.  She loves to watch other people, but ONLY tolerates being held by me, Aubree, or Mark (sometimes Bryce).  She has a special affinity for Graham; every time she sees him she breaks out in an enormous smile.  

She is on the cusp of crawling (up on all fours and rocking), but her primary mode of locomotion is rolling. 

Though she doesn't like to sleep, she does love to eat and nurse (and she can sign "milk" like a champ).  She's already the same size Aubree was at one year old (well over 18 pounds) and is completely into 12 month sized clothes.  I'm used to having babies who get pretty scrawny over the course of their first year, so this adorable chubbiness is completely new territory!