We're finished with bottles, high chairs, and almost finished with diapers... but wow, bedtime has been tough around the Cable house these last couple of weeks. What I thought would improve once Leila felt better has turned into another developmental stage: Leila afraid of the dark and going through separation anxiety.
She typically has no problem napping, but she's a complete wreck at bedtime. Austin and I believe in bedtime rituals that do not include staying up late, sleeping with parents, or falling asleep in just any old place so tough love is the theme at our house from around 7:30 - 11:30 each night. Once we figured out the dark was part of the problem, we had an easy fix, but the separation anxiety is another story. I can't believe I'm thankful that I've watched numerous re-run episodes of Nanny 911 during all those months of being home sick and pregnant, but I am because I've learned what to do so we can help keep good habits--the short version, comfort often, but don't remove from room.
Her room has a twin bed and her crib and she's almost able to climb out of her crib. I always knew I would not put her in her big girl bed until she started climbing out, but I had no idea how hard it would be to keep a little girl in a twin bed. Leila lays pretty well for awhile as long as I'm with her. I've been leaving while she's awake to try to train her to go to sleep on her own, but it's been quite taxing. Each time I leave, she gets out of bed within about 20 minutes. However, I don't give up or give in too easily. The last two nights after three failed attempts at sleeping in her big girl bed, she was put back into her crib and did fall asleep without a fuss, but the whole wind down process to get to that point nearly leaves me as exhausted as I was coming home with a newborn.
Life stays exciting as a parent, that's for sure. We are never able to get too comfortable :)
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