So my sweet girl has ended up sleeping in our bed. It started about 1-2 months ago when she had croup. She couldn't sleep very long laying down because she would start coughing. So we'd bring her down to sleep in her bouncy seat & one of us would sleep on the couch next to her in case she started coughing needed to sit up quickly.Well, Savannah got used to being next to one of us at night & now she wants that every night. She sleeps really well in her crib during the day {although right this second, she is upstairs crying because she doesn't want to take a nap...}, but she will not sleep there at night. I will lay her down & she reaches for me & sobs & sobs & sobs. I can't take that. When I peek in her room & she's sitting on her knees with HUGE tears rolling down her face, I just have to scoop her up & give her some love.
We decided a couple of weeks ago to just let her sleep in our bed with one of us so
2 nights ago was my turn to sleep with Savannah. She would sit up {in her sleep!} & flop down me & then flop on her pillow & then smack me with her arm & then pull my hair {HARD!} & then roll over next to me & then sit up...you get the idea. She.just.would.not.stop.moving. It drove me crazy! I felt wild inside & finally I got up & got her a bottle. Ken took her back to bed saying, 'I think you should sleep on the couch.' I took him up on it.
All that to say, we have got to get this little sweetie sleeping in her bed at night. It's crazy to me that the person sleeping on the couch gets the best sleep. Plus, Savannah can't be getting super great sleep if she's all over the place. I just don't know how to get her comfortable in her bed at night. We have a heater in there, I put a fuzzy blanket underneath her. I've tried putting the pillow she sleeps on in our bed in her crib. I've tried rocking her downstairs until she is knocked out & then putting her in bed. I've tried laying her down awake. She just cries so hard & is so upset. I'm just not sure how to get my Savannah-girl sleeping back in her bed. Any ideas?
2 comments:
I wish I could tell you it magically gets better as she gets older. My 2-yr old K still has these episodes where she won't sleep in her bed. Praise God for the past week (one whole week, LOL) she has slept soundly in her own bed through the night. But for the last few months she has awakened 4, 5, 6 times a night crying for me to let her sleep with me. It's heartbreaking and i get no sleep when she goes through those phases. Plus she talks so she actually says, "Mommy, I wanna sleep in YOUR bed with you!" and my heart shatters into a zillion pieces.
The best thing to do honestly is to rock/hold Savannah until she's sleepy but still awake, and then put her in her bed so she learns to fall asleep on her own. If she's knocked out when you lay her down, she'll wake up and realize she's alone and cry because she's used to having someone else there to put her to sleep. If she cries, go to her when she's crying but try not to pick her up. If she's sitting or standing up in her bed, gently lay her back down, and lean over her, rub her back and speak softly to her until she settles down and stops crying (sometimes this takes awhile so I hope you have a strong back). As soon as she's quiet, quickly exit. if she starts up again, let her cry for a few minutes to see if she settles herself. If not, go back in and repeat. Don't lift her out of the bed though, just lay her back down and rub her. After about the 3 or 4th time (if it gets that far) keep laying her down and rub her back but don't speak to her - just go through the motions.
The idea is consistency. Babies are smart enough to put two and two together when they cry and we take them out and let them sleep in our beds. They know how to get what they want! So the key is to consistently, lovingly insist that she sleep in her bed. Eventually (though sometimes this takes night after night of constantly doing this and losing sleep) she will realize, "ok, i guess this is where i have to stay." and she'll stop crying.
It took awhile but eventually K wouldn't cry anymore when I put her in her bed! But of course, like all little ones, she still goes through her periods of not wanting to sleep in her bed once in awhile. We just came off of a really bad few months of her crying and waking every.single.night several times a night. and though i got no sleep from having to constantly lay her back down in her bed, i couldn't bring myself to put her in my bed with me because i knew it would undo all the work we accomplished when she was younger. It's reaaally hard when you're exhausted and just want to do anything to get back to sleep. it's also reaaaally hard because I know that she's only 2 and just wants the snuggly security of sleeping with Mommy. But at this age, it's very easy to adopt bad habits that will stick for years. And i don't want a 6 or 7 year old still sleeping in my bed!! :-) and like Savannah, Kharis is an all-over-the-bed sleeper, smacking me in the face, rolling, i'm terrified she's going to fall off the bed or get smothered by the covers, so i don't get any sleep anyway when I cave and let her sleep with me. So i just stick to the plan and insist she sleep in her bed. I don't let her "cry it out" - i just go comfort her in her bed until she settles down. again, this sometimes happens over and over. a couple of weeks ago, she literally woke up crying every hour. but it subsided and this past week, she has slept in her bed through the night.
PRAY specifically about it also. i'm convinced it has helped.
Sorry for the novel. Hope you get some rest soon.
Thanks for the suggestions DF. I have such a hard time when Savannah is sitting there sobbing & I know that I can just pick her up & comfort her. = )
She will go to sleep fine when I lay her down awake during the day. Just not at night.
That's a good idea just comforting her without picking her up. I've tried that, just not for very long. Yeah, I'm a sucker. = )
And, to be honest, even though she's such a crazy wiggle-worm, I ♥ being close to her.
She does need to sleep in her own bed, though, so we're working on it.
{hugs}
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