Wednesday, March 06, 2013

Sleep Deprived {Toddler Sleep Problems}

Sleep training a newborn seems like a breeze compared to my sweet, sleepless toddler.
Once upon a time she was amazing sleeper! 
My friends always asked my tricks, but we were just blessed.
Last year I had called the doctor just to make sure "sleeping sixteen hours a night plus a nap way ok."
I know some day I would laugh at that, but today is not the day.  
Today I reminisce at those days when sleep came easy.

So we printed out an awesome bedtime routine chart.  
It's perfect because it shows a simple, straight forward routine with pictures.
She was so excited about her chart that she even was ready to check it out the next morning.
The first night didn't go as planned.  She was up until 11:30PM.  Definitely not the results I was hoping for, but from newborn I know it can take a few days.  Well the next morning she got sick, I mean really sick.  So we cuddled and I slept in her bed with her.  I was a little scared that would set her back, but since it was the weekend daddy was here to swoop in.  We followed her chart (she still loves it) and daddy tucked her in.  He's the toddler whisper, so she went down perfectly.  Then it came my turn with no daddy to help.  Guess what happened?  She went down with out a peep.  No tears.  I was blown away! 

Although I don't think the chart is some magical fix, it certainly helped.  She got to see exactly what was next and it helped us keep a routine.  So it was just as much for me as her.  We'll see what the rest of the week holds, but for now I'm on cloud nine with a little girl who went to be not only before 11PM (8:30 actually), but also didn't shed a single tear.

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