The Bean is a force to be reckoned with- that’s an undisputed fact. She came into this world in hurry, she cried for the first 3 hours of her life and she basically turned our lives upside down from minute one is a million different ways. For the first six months of her life, Beaner was a crappy sleeper. The only way to get any sleep at all was to have her in bed with me. I say me because by the time she was 3 months old she was too big and too wiggly for the Hubs to feel comfortable sleeping in the same bed with her and I.
For almost every night for 3 months, the Hubs opted to sleep on the couch just so he could get some uninterrupted sleep. You see, Bean didn’t sleep well with us- it wasn’t like cuddling with me made her sleep better or longer. She just didn’t sleep at all and having her in bed with me just allowed me to soothe her before she woke up Scorch (who is also a really terrible sleeper).
We took Bean in for her 6 month well baby visit on her 6 months birthday and her doctor told me that I could let her cry it out if I wanted. 6 months was the earliest I would even consider it regardless of how badly we were all sleeping and the doctor confirmed that she was finally big enough to give it a try.
So that night, I sent the Hubs out with his friends to watch a basketball game (the man cannot be around a crying baby without comforting them) and I gave it ago. She cried for 37 mins (I checked on her every 10 minutes) and then she fell asleep. She didn’t sleep through the night because she was still nursing, but within 3 nights she happily put herself to sleep every single night. By the time she was a year old, she slept 12-13 hours straight every. single. night.
It was heaven.
We potty trained Bean about 3 weeks ago- it went so much easier then I thought it would. Except for one little thing. Her sleep- her precious, glorious sleep- has gone to hell because now instead of wetting her diaper, she wants to get up and use the potty at least twice a night. I know that’s a good thing, but it’s killing me.
It wouldn’t be so bad if she was up and then back to bed quickly, but she wants to talk to me while she’s up.
“What you doing, Mommy?”
“Where Daddy?”
“I all done sleeping now?”
“I yike (like) laughing. Do you like laughing?”
Or she’ll tell me about a conversation she had earlier in the day. They are mundane conversations- like when our nanny, Mary, wanted her to put a pair of pants on and the Bean didn’t want to- but she has different voices and facial expressions for each person she imitating, so then I start laughing, and she starts laughing and pretty soon we’re cracking up like a pair of loons at 2 am in the bathroom.
Do you know how hard it is to go back to bed after something like that?
Wickedly Crazy Awesome Life 