This girl loves her bed.
Maybe it's the eight pacifiers, the abundance of stuffed animals, or that she can access a shelf full of bed appropriate books and toys that keeps her happy there. I am not complaining. Not one single bit.
I was a little obsessive about her sleep and my lack of it, the first four months of Leila's life. Looking back I am sure it was just the normal newborn stage, but sleeping no more than three hours in a row makes a Momma crazy. So I set out to read every book possible about sleep, schedules, and routines. I read Secrets of the Baby Whisperer, Healthy Sleep Habits Healthy Child, Solve your Child's Sleep Problems, and The No-Cry Sleep Solution. All great and very informative books. I even got Grandma to read them! We took a little bit from each book and made a plan (that's the teacher in us).
It was getting way too difficult to rock or bounce her to sleep then lay her gently into the pack-n-play. As soon as I would put her down, I bolted to the door in hopes she wouldn't see me if she opened her eyes. Not very effective. My maternity leave was over so my mom was willing to help Leila learn to self-soothe for nap time. It took less than a week and she was napping like a champ. She has been an all-star napper ever since!
At seven months old I was able to put Leila down for the night around 7:00 am and wouldn't hear from her again until 7:00 pm. Lucky number 7!
So here we are, almost nine months later and Leila still takes two killer TWO HOUR naps...
...until yesterday.
Jeff had to abort the second nap after listening to her talk, sing, and eventually whine for an hour.
I have been dreading this transition since she turned a year old. She has shown signs that she's ready to ditch a nap and today I decided to deliberately try it. I like schedules and routines, and if you ever met Leila you'd know she must like them too. She's the happiest baby I've ever met!
The time has come. The time is now. Time for a new plan.
