Saturday, August 22, 2009

Sleeping in the Crib!!

So last night was a night that I have been completely dreading for months. And although it definitely did have horrible moments, they were shorter than I'd expected, and the night was a success! Last night was the first night, that in an effort to teach her how to fall asleep, I have let Sadie cry. I cannot bear to hear her cry, but her sleeping habits have gotten so bad that I knew this had to be done. Up until now, Sadie has napped only in her swing or in my arms, and has slept with me in bed during the night. She also nursed to sleep, and nursed when she woke up every hour, if not sooner, to fall back to sleep. Well, we have turned over a new leaf! After 40 minutes of crying (with me going in and patting her back every five minutes or so), Sadie fell asleep in her crib. Three hours later she woke up, I nursed her, and she cried for five minutes before falling back to sleep. This happened again three hours later and then there were a few more times after that I had to go pat her back, but then she immediately fell back to sleep. And during the day today, she has taken three naps in her crib, all approximately an hour long. (Typically, she naps no longer than 20 minutes at a time.) And she only cried for two minutes for the first nap, five for the second, and ten for the third. (Not the progression I was hoping for, but still pretty good! And hopefully tomorrow will go even better!)

Here are some pictures I took of her this morning to document her successful, first night of sleeping in the crib!