New Bedtime Routine...

Every since we transferred Sophia to her "Big" girl bed, we have been rocking her until she is completely asleep and then laying her down. We were doing this because we were afraid that if she was awake when we put her to bed she would try to climb out. Well, after a few weeks, Sophia's night time routine started to get quite lengthy and become quite the tiring process. As I have come farther along in my pregnancy and my tummy has gotten bigger, it has been increasingly harder to rock Sophia or for her to get comfortable in the rocking chair. Because of this, she would fidget and squirm around, thus kneeing and elbowing my stomach which was very painful. And because it took her longer to get comfortable, it took longer to rock her to get her to fall completely asleep, thus resulting in a 45 minute night time routine. This was beginning to wear me out and by the time I would finally get her to sleep I was ready for bed! Sophia was also waking up every few nights in the middle of the night and wouldn't go back to sleep, so I was moving her over to the spare bedroom and sleeping the rest of the night in there with her. I was beginning to miss the comfort of my own bed, and a good nights rest! Well, Jeff and I talked and decided it was time to start putting her to bed completely awake and letting her sooth herself to sleep. We made this decision based on her age and due to our second little girl that will be needing much of our attention come February. We want Sophia to feel safe sleeping in her bed all by herself and feel comfortable going to bed on her own, so that if the baby needs us at the same time, it wont be a struggle. I had a feeling this wasn't going to be a fun process and was probably going to be harder on me than on Sophia. Well, I finally decided the sooner the better. So when Monday rolled around, come nighttime, I was going to sing two songs to her, give her a kiss and lay her in her bed. After doing this, I left the door open so that I could see if she sat up in bed or tried to climb out. Of course she cried and she sounded so sad! After about 20 times of telling her to lay back down and that I loved her and she was a big girl and needed to sleep in her own bed, she finally pooped herself out and slept through the night until 8am the next morning. Tuesday night was even harder, when she cried and through out whimpering would sadly say "mooommmmy". It tore me up inside to hear her call for me and I had to keep reminding myself it would be better for both her and I, to sleep in our own beds and get a good nights rest. She is getting so smart these days and tried using many methods of stalling, such as needing to go potty, needing a tissue for her nose, and wanting me to kiss her head. It took every ounce of strength to not give in and pick her up and rock her!!! When Wednesday rolled around, I layed Sophia down, she cried for about 15 minutes and fell asleep. Thursday was much the same and Friday was even easier and it took Sophia about 5 minutes of quiet whimpering before she yawned, rolled over and fell asleep. Tonight, I couldn't believe it! I sang her two songs, layed her down and not a peep!!! She closed her eyes, snuggled her bear and blanky and went to sleep all on her own without any crying at all! I am hoping this painful process has finally come to an end, and she is comfortable falling asleep on her own in her own bed. Though I do miss rocking her, I know in the long run, this is a good change and will all be for the best.