HUGE moment

I'm literally freaking out right now. I'm on the verge of tears. Mike just got up and is looking at me like, "what is going on with you??"

I must share. I must share that I've been trying (along with the nanny) for WEEEEEEEEEEKS to get Eloise to sleep on her own during nap time. And today, for the very first time......she has successfully accomplished this goal!!!

Background - Getting your child to nap is such a long process and for all parents out there, I know you know where I'm coming from. You have to be persistent. If a baby doesn't learn how to go to sleep on their own (as all the books say,"put them into their crib drowsy BUT AWAKE" - they even capitalize 'BUT AWAKE' to emphasize how important that part is), they will never nap well. Eloise has had this task down pat for night time sleep since day one. I've been putting her down for bedtime this way since she was born and it's never been a problem. Off to sleep she'd go. Sometimes she'd take up to 20 minutes but she never cried. Well maybe a whimper, but no crying. She'd just kick and move around a bit and before you know it, she'd be out. Sleeping away.

But during the day, this task has been a real challenge. Truly unbelievable. My thought was she's a stubborn baby and it is what it is. But I refused to give up. After reading and reading and reading online nap time tips and books on getting your baby to nap, I realized this is a common problem. A lot of babies don't willingly go to sleep even though they are tired. Some parents have to deal with this problem at night time. I guess I'm lucky that it's only during the day for us. And honestly, it's a real bummer that she fights naps and hardly ever sleeps because she's always exhausted, often cranky and sometimes a real bear to be around.

Since I put away the Sleepy Wrap and have been making her nap in her crib exclusively, she's been averaging 3-4, 40 minute naps daily. Simply not enough for a baby her age. I did everything I was told to try. I created a nap time routine, one that would settle her and that she would recognize as "it's time to go to sleep now" routine. I'd do it before every single nap. And believe me when I say, I've tried everything as a part of that nap time routine - draw the blinds, dark room, special night light, no night light, story, no story, bottle, no bottle, rocking, no rocking, walking, no walking, lunges (you saw this post), no lunges, sleep inducer, no sleep inducer, swaddle, no swaddle, swaddle arms in and legs out, swaddle arms out and legs in, and some kind of combination of all of the above. The list goes on and on.

And the 4-times daily attempts to get her down in the crib when she was drowsy would continue. This was all as soon as I saw her signs of being tired. Forget about it if I missed those signs even by 5 minutes. Then things were far uglier. On and on I'd go, successful or not, I didn't give up. Example - and chaulk this attempt up for 'A for effort'.....last Thursday, I tried to get her down for a nap at 8:30am. She finally went to sleep at 12:55pm and slept for 30 minutes. Yeah, that's 4 1/2 hours of trying. All for a 30 minute nap. Sigh.

I'd try every hour to get her down and if I was unsuccessful, we'd go downstairs to play and I'd return her to her room to try again as soon as she started yawning. Needless to say, there were many flights of stairs climbed that morning.

So what happens when I put her down? Nothing different then everyone else in this position deals with. I found the nap time routine that would get her settled, drowsy and ready for a nap. Then I'd gently set her down in the crib and of course, her eyes would immediately pop open and she'd cry. This means I was a crutch to her, helping her get to sleep vs. her doing it on her own. As soon as my bouncing or rocking or whatever it was I was doing would stop, she'd pop awake and be upset. Not good. And not a healthy recipe for a good nap.

Sooooo..... all of that said.....right now, as I frantically type this post....Eloise is napping. And today, October 3, 2009, is the FIRST time ever where I've put her down into her crib drowsy BUT AWAKE and she successfully put herself to sleep. This is such a HUGE moment that I can not even believe it. I was seriously doing the "Eloise put herself to sleep" dance all around the living room. Yesssssssss!!! How long will she sleep?? Who knows. And really, I don't even care. Just the fact that she put herself to sleep is so fantastic that I can hardly stand it!!! BIG step in the right direction for nap time at the Vail residence!