So just to follow-up on that whole sleep issue: man, that sure was easy.
Since the one Hell Night with the 25-minute crying jag, we have had virtually no problems getting Cate to sleep. Sure, she hollers when I first put her in the crib, but I just turn on her music and say, “Ok baby, it’s time to go to sleep now. I love you, goodnight.” And then I leave and close the door behind me. By the time I get downstairs and pick up the baby monitor, she’s stopped fussing.
Last night she slept from about 10:00 until after 8 a.m. She woke up and fussed for about 30 seconds at 4 a.m., but she quieted down and went back to sleep before I even had a chance to drag my lazy butt out of bed to go check on her.
Naps have been a bit trickier, and by that I mean that sometimes she’ll scream for up to a whole minute before she quiets down. (Which is probably hardest for me, since I can’t stand to hear her cry.) So, overall I’d say it’s been a raging success.
I do wonder how much of it has to do with the Baby Mozart CD. She’s heard that music so many times because I always turn on the DVD when she’s upset or sick, as a way to help calm her down. So my guess she associates the music with being comforted, which probably helps tremendously. I’m scared to try it without the CD, honestly. And you know, if she wants the music to help her drift off, I don’t really see the harm in that.
So I guess that’s that. Now I just have to cross my fingers and hope that the 18-month sleep regression I’ve read about won’t be too awful when the time comes.
That’s terrific! No big deal if she likes the tunes, you just have to make sure you have a way to play them for her if you go anywhere, which should be no big deal since you can get a set of portable speakers for next to nothing and hook them up to a portable CD player. Congrats!
Oh yeah, that reminds me – hey Cat, do you have a boombox or something similar that we can use at your house? Or should I pack ours?
I totally jinxed myself yesterday. Miss C hasn’t wanted to go down for a nap today. I ended up letting her cry for a few minutes and it took 5 each time (two naps) but she ended up falling asleep on her own. Geez. Well, at least I know I can handle 5 minutes of the pissed off baby cry (its not the “I’m hurt” one, just the “I’m pissed” one). Ah, such is life!
Yes, we have a portable CD player you can use. We can also hook some speakers to your iPod if you want. Having a trick like that to help with sleep will make it easier to travel as well, because anywhere you go will sound ike home! I’m so glad it has been working out!