The Evolution of Lights Out

So, as most and I guess likely all of you who read our blog have noticed, we have not updated really at all since we've arrived home. First, it was jet-lag meets MAJOR TRANSITION plus 3 year old spoiled by his favorite people for two weeks meets reality. Our original only child met our "While We Were in China" only child and neither was willing to become a sibling too quickly. I'm just going to sum it up with these words; screaming, whining and tantrums... Then there were the kids and their behaviors. :)

Needless to say, almost 3 weeks later we're doing much better. In a previous post, I mentioned what an amazingly obedient sleeper our son has been. He typically goes right to bed with only minimal stalling and NEVER gets out of his bed during the night. None of the, "Mom, I need a drink." that his Dad was so famous for as a child. This child is unbelievable, really. Sleeps soundly from 9PM to 8AM. (later if we let him) and naps for usually 3 hours in the afternoon.

Coming home from China where Effie was sleeping with us in our King sized bed was definitely a wake up call (can't decide if I intended that pun, but I did think about it ahead of time, so then yes, pun intended).

The first 3 nights I slept in her room with her on a mattress next to her crib. She woke at about 3 AM each night and screamed off and on for about an hour. She'd fall back asleep around 4:30 and sleep til 6:00. Then she'd sleep about 3 hours in the afternoon for a nap. Well, we soon discovered that just like a newborn baby she had her days and nights mixed up. Day four she was allowed to sleep 1 hour for her nap in the afternoon and that made the difference. From that point on one of us would just lie down on the mattress beside her at nap time and bed time and then get up and leave when she was asleep. She was sleeping thru the night by day 5 and the family was a whole lot happier in the morning.

Next step. After almost 1 week of lying down with her at night and naps and waiting for her to get to sleep, then listening thru the monitor from the comfort of our SLEEP NUMBER BED, we realized it was time to keep progressing forward. But, what was the next step?  Distance.  I moved the mattress to the other side of her room behind her little dolly play area. At this distance, in the dim light of her monitor night light (oh, yeah, we also blacked out her windows with the eclipse curtains) I was barely visible. Now, she had to listen to my voice to be calmed and reassured. She knew I was in the room, but still there was some resistance the first few nights of this.

Here we are at nearly 3 weeks and we've hit a point of progression again. The last few nights and naps have been spent fairly peacefully with Effie in her crib, calming herself, no tears, just questioning "Ugh? Ugh?s" to which we reply, "I'm right in the hall Effie. Goodnight little girl and sweet dreams."

That's right, we are putting her down in her crib without crying, she is drifting off to sleep without fits or tantrums and we are walking out of the room leaving the door cracked behind us just an inch or two, sitting in the hallway until the questioning Ugh?s stop, she's settled in and sleeping. Then, we gently pull her door closed and see her again to greet her in the morning at 7:30AM or so. AND IT'S WORKING!!!! Next step is closing the door a crack and working on my computer or helping Jack to bed upstairs while she falls asleep on her own. Regardless, Andy and I had a vision. We worked together to make it happen. We never expected we'd live thru it, but we did and I think that this time around we are more of a team.

I have so much more to write about, but you'll all just have to wait. Thanks for hanging around when we've been absent. We hope to catch up with you all really soon!

Tonight's progress in Bedtime. That's Effie's Door, barely cracked.