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Sleeping Beauty




Kit's sleep issues have morphed.

Now she can only fall asleep if someone else, specifically, Daddy, holds her. This is a wonderful blessing in many ways! I have a reliable way now for her to get a nap and I can (usually) work on some chores.

This backfires on Victor's workdays though.

Some days, her nap can wait until he gets home if he's done early enough. On Tuesday he stayed an extra 15 or 20 minutes when he came home for lunch to put her to sleep. After she conked out, I moved her to the couch and Daddy went back to work.

Thursday and Friday were not so lovely and peaceful around here at naptime. There was no Daddy, but there was certainly one sleepy little girl.

Boy can she put up a fight when she's determined, which is, well - always. Thursday was bad, but pretty short. Only 30 minutes or so before she caved.

Yesterday, it was war!

I read her stories. I had the fan on. I tried her noise machine. I put on music. We rocked. We didn't rock. Some of the time she would nurse.

Other moments she was trying to pinch or bite me. I tried putting her facing forward, sideways, or to get her to lay against me.

She was MAD, exhausted, and clearly uncomfortable in her own body. She wanted to be held, but couldn't stand my hands or arms anywhere on her body.

Sometimes holding her firmly against me with her facing forward helps her recognize it's time for sleep. She recognized it all right and went into major meltdown mayhem!

She wanted her arms and legs everywhere and nowhere. I would not allow her to get down off my lap, even though she kept trying to slide off. Every time I'd pull her back she would shove my hands away, then bang her head and body down hard against my chest.

 And on and off during each crying jag, she would pathetically moan, "DAAADAAAA! DAAAA-DAAAAA!" Poor baby, all she wanted was her daddy there so she could fall asleep!

Periodically I kept checking her diaper to make sure she didn't have an issue there.

She eventually ended up with only a diaper on as the clothing she was wearing fairly quickly became a huge source of agitation.

And then, finally, one of the times that she went to nurse again, I felt her body kind of release. The peaceful calm of sleep set in, and I breathed out a sigh of relief. It had been nearly two hours since we had first sat down to read and go 'nigh-night'. 




 
 
 
 
 
Yes, that is her leg going up my shirt. This child gets into the strangest positions when she nurses, in attempts, I think, to provide herself with deep pressure.
 
Then guess what I see on the edge of her diaper? Yep. Mud pie. Somehow, in the last five minutes between when I last checked her and her falling asleep, she managed to deliver a package.
 
After our crazy struggle, the tears, and several minor injuries to my person, I ended up waking her up anyway because I had to change her diaper!
 
Sigh...
 
A two hour struggle for a fifteen minute nap.
 
Oy. So glad Daddy gets to be home today!
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Comments

  1. UnknownMarch 2, 2013 at 4:24 PM

    Oh, goodness! I so understand your sleep issues! We've been through crazy times with my daughter! Hang in there. It'll get better eventually.

    ReplyDelete

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