A few weeks ago, though, she decided she'd prove herself a big girl and started waking up every night between midnight and 2 AM screaming her head off. Each time I walked into her room she'd be hanging on her hips over the side of the pack'n'play. I was so worried that she'd eventually just fall flat on her face, so Andrew and I built a little railing to go on the big queen-sized bed in her room. That way she would have an exit available but still wouldn't fall off the bed.
It didn't take long at all. Rachel helped a lot. That's probably why it was so easy.
I'll help you, Daddy!
My turn, Mommy!She was so excited to try it out for nap time!
Oddly enough she ended up at the foot of the bed where there really isn't very much keeping her on the bed. I've tried explaining the whole "back to sleep" thing to her but she must just take after her daddy and this is her preferred sleeping position.
She's actually done fairly well with sleeping in a big bed so far. She's even (mostly) stopped throwing tantrums at bedtime and will only cry until we shut the door instead of until she falls asleep. She still ping-pongs her way around the bed all night long and we can hear her crashing into the wall or the side. Every time we go to get her in the morning or after a nap she's at the foot of the bed where there is no railing.
This hasn't really been a problem, until last night when we heard a few crashes around midnight. Rachel cried for about 30 seconds and then stopped. I wasn't really worried about her since that is a perfectly normal thing to happen.
When I went to check on her before going to bed, however, I panicked.
I opened her door a crack and peeked my head inside. I couldn't see her. So I opened the door up some more and slid inside her room. I still couldn't see her. So I walked over to the foot of her bed. I still couldn't see her.
I wasn't panicked enough to warrant turning on the light, yet, but I noticed that her blankets were piled up by the railing, so I ran over to the side of the bed so that I could feel around for her. And that's when I saw her, nestled peacefully on the pillow we keep on the floor by the "exit" of her bed for nights (exactly like last night) when she falls off the bed.
My poor little baby fell off the bed and I didn't even go check on her. What kind of a mom am I?
She's a tough one, though. And so practical. I can just imagine what the short seconds of her crying translated to in adultese.
"Waa! What a rude awakening! Where am I? This place is hard and cold. I'll just crawl around until I find something soft. Oooh, lookie here! Here is something soft. I'll just lie down here and... *yawn* ...good night!"
To redeem myself for not checking on her after she fell off the bed (oops!) I did pick her up and put her back on the bed after only a short internal debate. She looked so serene on the floor but kneeling on a hard stone floor all night long just didn't sound too comfortable and my motherly instincts won out...
...after Andrew said, "Of course you should put her back on the bed!"
Hey, she did look peaceful.
My theroies:
ReplyDelete1: I wait to see if they can calm back to sleep by themself.
(This teaches them problem solving skills for later on)
2: Let sleeping babes lie....horrible I know, but this stems from Andrew and Sabrina.....those two would wake the minute I touch them and be up for hours, again.
I agree with kelline. But I also think it was nice of you to move her. Kids are hilarious. Why the floor? why the end of the bed where there's no protection? why can't they just do it the safe and easy way?
ReplyDeleteOh god bless her little cotton socks... so sweet.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry about how it will translate later in life.. just set up a jar marked 'therapy fund', like I did.. then you can toss in a dollar everytime you catch yourself doing something that will have far reaching consequences... (hmm that jar is getting full, better get a bigger one)
Cheers