Because of her new bottom teeth Evelyn has awaken between midnight and 3am the past few nights wanting comfort. I gave her teething rings, let her watch Noggin and nursed her for as long as she would tolerate it. Needing sleep myself I was desperate for a cure and regretfully let her sleep in bed with us two nights in a row.
Yesterday and today she was wonderful at daycare-there was no fuss and no teething problems. Though she has been chewing on anything in sight, nothing out of the ordinary for this girl, I haven't seen hinting of teething pain the past 2days at home.
So tonight at 7:30 after a nice, long walk she showed signs of sleepiness. After a nurse I put her to bed where she immediately began crying. When I leaned in to re-tuck her in or give her her lovey she would instantly stop. Unfortunately I decided my only option was to let her cry herself to sleep. In the beginning I would sneak in every few minutes to check on her. I knew this was a mistake while doing so but I had to make sure she wasn't on her belly which would just create further problems. The crying would stop, then begin, then die down, then start even harder. After 15minutes I decided to check again thinking maybe her teeth did hurt or she had gas, something that hasn't happened in months, and realized there were no tears. I knew I had to be strong and just let her cry it out. After another 10-15minutes she was hysterical. After a desperate phone call to my mom (to give my cousins a break) I decided to give her a bath to relax her, where she laughed the second her toes hit the water. We then sat on the patio with a little bottle. Still awake, I brought her inside and layed her in bed where she put herself to sleep in about 10minutes (at 9pm).
I knew nothing was wrong with her, that she just wanted to be held, but was I wrong to let her cry like that? She smiled and laughed in the bathtub so I'm sure she's not in pain. It's the hardest thing I've ever done, listening to her cry. How do I handle these nights? I can't spend 2 1/2hours every night putting her to bed when I wake up at 5am for school. So stressed! Advice anyone??
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We have to talk. I am very proud of you for even attempting to let her cry it out. Though THE HARDEST thing, it is short and sweet compared to a long habit of sleeping with you, needing you every night, etc. etc. She may be a *little* too young to totally get it, though. So, I think what you did THEN was perfect. Calm her, make sure she's full and go at it again. She needs to know her bed is her bed. That's my 2 cents!
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