Sleep Study

You may remember that not too long ago, we returned to a rigid nap/sleep schedule to ensure that Cece was getting the rest she needed. Over the last two weeks or so, she has pushed her nap back further and further so that it almost, and sometimes does, back up directly to dinnertime. Which made bedtime a transient thing. She was also having a great deal more difficulty falling asleep in her big girl bed. She was insistent that we lay down and sleep in the room too. And we did. In the beginning, we would lay down for, maybe, ten minutes. She would fall asleep, and we could walk out. No problem. Easy. Then, she started not falling asleep so easily, and freaking out when we left the room, springing instantly back awake. So, I was laying down for a half hour, an hour, an hour and a half, two hours. Do you see where this is going? Several nights, I would fall completely asleep and Jeff would come in to wake me up. So, bedtime was getting to be a bit much.

Then, it got worse. While we were at the beach, Cece started waking up early again, 5/5:30. Which isn't so bad. All last week (to add to the fun, it was my first week of school with students) she woke up early AND several times through the night. And she was no longer knocking politely on the inside of her door. No, she was screaming upon waking. Because we weren't in there, sleeping next to her. The first three nights of this, we took turns going in and sleeping on the floor. Comfy. On Thursday night, I was done. I talked to her about how things were going to go down tonight. We took a bath, put on pj's, read books, and then I tucked her in, said good night, kissed her, and walked right back out.

I listened to her fun-reak out for a while. Then, her voice turned. She was just asking, "uh...mom?". Then some more sad dramatics, then, "mom?", then nothing. For whatever reason, my great fear was that now that she was in a big girl bed, she could be anywhere in there, so when she did fall asleep, she could be on the floor. First of all, why this was my great fear, I'm not sure. Second, when I went in to check on her she was in her bed with her blanket. Perfectly fine.

She woke up once through the night. I think...it's all a bit fuzzy these days.

The next day, Jeff was able to get her closer to her normal nap time. We were hoping this would get her back on track. (foreshadowing: it didn't). That night, same deal. Bath, book, tuck, goodnight. 30 seconds of sad sounds, and she was out. Already, this was better. But then, she continued to wake up. I went in, said goodnight, she went back to sleep. The next time, she used the potty and went back to sleep. I decided that if this happened the next night, I'd let her use the potty. She's been staying dry at night, so that's sort of a step in the right direction. Next morning, still 5:30...not ok on the weekend, kid. Jeff decides that maybe she's ready to cut the nap. I agree that we will try it. I wondered though if she still needed that daytime rest. I'm pretty sure I still need that daytime rest, but I'll try it. Ironically, Jeff has this idea when I'm the one who has to carry out the plan. He will be at work all day.

I keep her busy, busy, busy. She falls asleep in the car twice, but not for a full nap time. She goes to bed on the early end of her bedtime range: 6:30. Again, about 30 seconds, and she's out. All night long. I am writing this 12 1/2 hours later. (for those of you confused, I wrote this on 9/11 at 6:30/7 but scheduled it to publish on 9/14) And she's still sleeping. We will see how she does today and tonight. Good hypothesis, Jeff.