It's slowly starting to happen, and even now, as I type this......my daughter is sleeping somewhere OTHER THAN MY ARMS!!! It has been trial and error for the past 3 weeks and sometimes I just hold her anyway because I'm so relieved she is finally asleep that I'm afraid she will wake up if I put her down. I'm still in survival mode people. I will let her sleep wherever she wants if it means we can get some sleep too!
BUT. LASTNIGHT!
She slept for 2 1/2 hours in her swing. The seat of her swing comes off and sort of resembles a bouncy seat without the bounce. It is also at a slight incline, which I have noticed that she likes. So I took the seat of the swing and brought it into our room. I swaddled her, rocked her until she was drowsy, put her in the swing and turned on her seahorse. She stared at the glowing belly of the seahorse and her eyes slowly started closing. When she started smiling, I knew she was out......I looked at my husband and said "This might work". We quickly laid down and went to sleep before she had a chance to change her mind.......
AND SHE SLEPT!
2 1/2 hours is the record so far. After 2 1/2 hours, she woke up to eat. I fed her and just couldn't bring myself to put her back in the swing. She looked so sweet and I wanted to snuggle.
TODAY.....she slept again, swaddled in her swing, from 12pm-1pm and then again from 2pm until now (330pm) AND she is still sleeping!
I really think the swaddling and the incline are the trick! I might be getting this mommy thing down after all!
Whatever works! As I type this Liam is sprawled out in my lap. I know I should put him in his crib but.. he looks so freaking cute. And he likes my lap. And I like him in my lap. And he won't always fit in my lap. So.. bad sleep habits be damned- the kid is staying. :)
ReplyDeleteI will never, ever forget when my efforts putting Nellie down to sleep in her cradle paid off. I had a stroke of genius and swaddled her BEFORE feeding so she was cozy while she ate.. I did a little "swaddle-feed-burp-change-feed-burp-bed" routine and it works like a charm. Also, you can try keeping lights low and dim and keeping interaction with her to a minimum. It sends the signal to them that it's "bedtime, not playtime". It's hard not to want to kiss those little cheeks and coo at them but they really do need to get the picture that night time is for sleeping and not playing!
ReplyDelete