Sleepy time

Sleeping like a baby!

Ella made the move from her bassinett (more like our bed) to her own room about a month ago.
Prior to her big move to the crib and "crying it out" we'd have to bounce her on a big yoga ball to get her to fall asleep at every nap and bedtime (usually took about 45 minutes) then we'd put her in her swing or bouncy seat to sleep otherwise she would wake up the instant we laid her down! She just wouldn't stay asleep in her bassinett so we'd end up bringing her to our bed just so we could get a little sleep. Well then she'd want to nurse all night long, which meant that neither her or I were getting any solid sleep. I always said "I'll never have a child in our bed" but found out quite quickly that you do what you have to do to survive! After about 3 1/2 months of this on-going battle we knew we had to make a change for everyone's sake.

It took about a week and a half of crying it out to get her to sleep on her own (it was pure heart-breaking agony for all of us but we HAD TO get some sleep). When we started she would cry for 5 minutes and then we'd go in and console her a bit while she was still in the crib, leave, wait 10 minutes, console her, wait 15 minutes console her and repeat at 15 minutes until she went to sleep...SO HARD! Now she'll sleep on her own without a huge battle. There's often some crying involved before she falls asleep but once she drifts off she'll sleep a solid 6 hours most nights before getting up to eat. She naps well on her own now too.

Now that she rolls over like crazy we can't get her to sleep on her back. The first week post-roll we went in and flipped her over any time she was on her belly...well that no longer works. The girl loves to sleep on her stomach. Her position of choice is butt in the air, ankles crossed and arms tucked under her chest. It's a bit of a modified fetal position I guess. So much for "back to sleep", it's all tummy for this girl!