Long before Liam arrived, we bought Julia a cute single bed, set it up in her room, outfitted it with a safety rail, and tried to get her interested in moving out of the crib. It worked brilliantly...for about a week, and then it became a couch for reading (and a trampoline when mama wasn't looking). I decided not to push the transition then and went back to our usual sleepless nights. Note: When Liam arrived, Julia was 18 months old and had never slept through the night!
Two cute reasons for not getting enough sleepBy April, Liam was sleeping better than Julia on most nights, and it seemed that they had their wakings coordinated so that one would wake up just as the other went back down. And yes, there were bad habits that I knew we needed to break: Julia still got a bottle when she woke up (bad, I know, but it beat having to get up for the day at 3:30am!), Liam was sleeping in our room all the time and in our bed most nights, bedtime routines were...well...not routine. I was also convinced the crib was part of the problem...she seemed too big for it.
Snug as a bug in a rug
Anyway, I figured since I wasn't getting any sleep anyway, we'd just do a major overhaul. Liam slept peacefully through all the commotion (he's a great day sleeper!), while I tried to make it all into an exciting game with Julia. Taking a tip from The McNulty Quads (yes, 4 toddlers at once!), I got rid of everything in Julia's room, locked the closets, covered all outlets, and put a gate up in the doorway. Liam's room (previously the guest room) finally came together as his nursery and the former double guest bed mattress found its way to Julia's floor to become her new "big girl bed".
Julia liked Liam's new set-upThen I called in a professional. Rene Rees, the Brisbane Baby Whisperer, helped us overhaul our routines (day and night), and four days later we were bottle-free with no baby in our bed, and Julia slept through the night (till 6am!) for the first time in 20 months! I can't say we're 100%...every now and then we still have a really early morning or no nap during the day, and Liam (at almost 4 months) has decided to shift his schedule around again...but it's been 2 months and Julia is definitely a big girl, even sleeping in a normal bed at Nana's 2-3 nights each week. Hey, one day I might even get some sleep too!
Before bed -- Night 1
"Can I come out now?"
Julia was a pacifier girl, but Liam loves his thumb!
2 comments:
I am laughing out loud at your "B" is for beds--not at you, rather with you. I, too, am sleep deprived and our house is FULL of beds. How is this happening to us, Laura? Anyway, there is an end in sight, wait, I bet your mom thought that too and now look at her, she is with you and not sleeping, so maybe it doesn't end...so it goes! Lots of love from no sleep land down South---
Your Sleepless Cousin
You both are fabulous moms and one day you will actually miss this!
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