Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Habits
OK...tonight I decided to write about habits. The reason? I'm sitting here while Ana screams upstairs and I can't think of anything but the habit that we created! While Aiva and I were in Louisville this past weekend, Nate decided to let Ana sleep in our bed. Not once but twice...thus creating the habit. Ever since, she screams bloody murder if she's in her bed. On Sunday night, Nate went to get her out of her bed and put her in our bed but she still screamed. I'm talking about the worst type of scream! The one you want to cover her mouth! Each night she screams a little less but here it is 9PM and she's still at it. My mom said that she needs to scream/cry it out so I'm stuck. I so much want to go up there and give her a little piece of my mind but I know that will create a whole different habit. If she just cries until she falls asleep she'll learn that no matter how long or how loud she cries I'm still not coming up so I'm hoping she'll stop. This habit is getting SO OLD!!! Why is this habit so easy to start but so HARD to stop!!?? For all of my blogging buddies...do you have any other ideas how to stop Ana's new habit?? Any help is much appreciated! OK, quick...time to put my feet up and relax...I think she's quieting down!! Yeah!
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6 comments:
Oh Megan~ That is so tough! Most nights I have to reassure Austin that I will come back in his room before I go to bed to see if he still wants to come to our bed, or I give him a time frame... in 15 minutes I will check on you. This usually settles him down and then he just falls asleep peacefully. Good luck and remember to be consistent with whatever you do!!!
She's definitely old enough to let her cry it out. She's just trying to get her way.
If you think she's getting overly upset, then maybe you could just go in and lay her back down and say goodnight or nothing at all. Wait a little longer each time before you go back in. Sometimes this just makes it worse.
Don't give in though unless you want a bed of three.
Hey Meggan,
I'm a huge opponent of the cry-it-out method, especially as it is supported so heavily within Christian circles. The way I see it, why wouldn't Ana want to be with you all? She loves you! Of course she will pick up this "habit" (as you call it) quickly, just as anyone picks up enjoyable and pleasurable habits quickly. There are gentle ways of weaning (which is what is it really is - weaning her back to her own bed) that don't leave your child to cry alone. These methods may take longer, but when you have to choose between time and tears, I choose time. It's a fundamental disagreement with how we view children: those who see children as manipulative little beings who seek to control us or God's little blessings who are just trying to figure things out in this crazy world. They need our love and support to handle changes, no matter how simple those changes may seem to us. We never let Sophie cry it out and she sleeps fine on her own because we took the time to help her adjust to her crib. Now we're doing the same with Sidney. I have plenty of resources if you're interested. Just let me know.
If she cries...I promise you that she will forgive you in the morning! My son who is 11 now, used to be seriously afraid of the dark! I believe,(and her is perfectly fine now!) that it only enabled him if I rescued him from his bed every night!!!! Keep up the good work. The only other advise that I have comes from Supernanny (haha) and that is to sit in the room with your back to her, picking her up and putting her back into bed without saying anything each time she gets up! That may be a good idea if you believe in superheroes, liek Supernanny! Let that baby cry, SHE WILL BE OK!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry about the spelling mistakes, it has been a really really long week and my brain hurts.
Thanks for all your thoughts! It has been such a long week! I plan to do the whole Supper Nany thing. I remember seeing that on one episode and that worked pretty good. I think that's the best of both worlds too. I want to show Ana that I love her but at the same time show her that she needs to sleep as well. I'll get back to you on how she does. Thanks agian girls!!
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