Sleep Lady Shuffle: Night #8

Goodness gracious. Has it only been 8 nights?

Last night Leah was SO TIRED. She didn’t nap well all day, taking only 2 30-minute naps rather than her 2 hour midday nap and half-hour nap before supper. (It’s a strange schedule, I know, but it has worked for her to this point.) No matter what I did, she would not sleep more than that, and I knew all day that it would be a struggle to get her to sleep at night since she’d be behind on sleep.

True, that.

I tried starting the bedtime routine earlier (7:30) to allow for a more difficult time getting to sleep, and it didn’t seem to help. She was in bed at 8:18, and was still crying for me at 8:45. She was more upset than she’s been in many nights, and I really think it was because she was so tired. Bawling her little eyes out, pointing at me in that pitiful heartbreaking way….it was rough. (Add to the emotional discomfort the physical fact that I was sitting on a glider ottoman at the top of the stairs and yeah….it was pretty uncomfortable.) No fun. No siree. I did break a Sleep Lady rule, too, by going back into her room and laying her back down. I didn’t pick her up at all, but I did lay her back down and cover her up. At 9:00, she was finally asleep.

Shuffle position: HALLWAY

To bed on her own: YES, though it took longer than it has most recently.

Back to sleep on her own: Ay, ay, ay…….finally, yes. She woke up at 11:28, screaming and crying and fussing. We headed on up, where she was struggling to breathe through her nose. We squirted her with the saline, brought out the nose vacuum, cuddled her for a minute, and laid her back down. She was still fussy and crying and still obviously very displeased. Let me correct that. She was MAD. She finally went back to sleep after an hour of ssh-ing and cajoling. (Let me mention here, too, how terrible I felt when I got her up this morning and found a big gash in her upper lip. That’s probably an exaggeration (I’m kinda known for that), but it’s a definite boo-boo, and I’m thinking that might have had something to do with her fury last night. Poor thing. We couldn’t see it in the dark! And the bad mama award of the year goes to.....)

Cry-time: The bawling and weeping of Night #1 was back. Probably 45 minutes, both at bedtime and in the middle of the night.

Rocking: YES, during storytime.

Bottle: YES, prior to her bath.

Music: YES.

Success: I suppose it was, but it didn’t feel like it.