Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Baby Battles....Sleep.....

My older two girls have always been good sleepers. They both were sleeping through the night by 2 months old. They rarely had night time waking (except for Meenie who went throughout a week long phase at 6 months where she would cry for 4 hours straight in the middle of the night). Einey always liked someone to hold her as she fell asleep - rocking her when she was young and then snuggling her as she got older. This lasted until she was almost two. With one child, you could do that. Meenie liked to sleep by herself, so while we were still snuggling Einey, Meenie was settling herself down for the night.

Then Moe came along. Moe didn't sleep through the night until 10 months old. And Moe doesn't like going to bed on her own. She went through a calm, complacent period where she would go to sleep when I put her in her bed. Friends would be amazed that come noon, she would ask for her nap, I'd bring her upstairs, change her diaper and by the time I made it back downstairs she would be asleep.

Now?

Moe kicks a screams and throws her limp body on the floor if you even mention the word sleep. At night time, she runs as fast as she can in the opposite direction, careful to stay as far as she can away from both you and the stairs. We go through the whole brush your teeth, read a story, get changed and then hugs, kisses, rubbing noses, head donking sphel and then complete meltdown. She cries and screams and yells "NO" and then "Mommy, Daddy" (Depending on which parent is not the mean one trying to part her from her playthings). "Stuck" and "Want Out" are her other favorite phrases associated with bedtime. She's even started to tell us "Sad" when we put her in her bed.

It feels like it's been going on like this forever, but it has only been the last week or so.

And I have a feeling more battles are going to pop up now as she approaches the terrible two's. She wants her independence, as long as no one else shows interest in Mommy, she isn't afraid to tell us what she wants or when she wants it. She will kick and fight to try to get her point across.

And so it begins...

1 comment:

Binky said...

That's been the Boss's modus operandi since birth. But it's definitely coming to a head now. Every time we put her in her crib, you'd think she was being chased by demonic clowns with hedge clippers for hands. Sigh.