Big Girl Bed!

Gwen is sleeping through the night and napping in her big girl bed! The first night it took over THREE hours to get to sleep, but she then slept through the night. The second day she napped in her bed no problem, and slept all through the night again. When we went to bed we opened her door and left our bedroom door open so she could come and get us if she needed anything (she did wake in the morning in a little panicked the first morning). When she woke in the morning she didn't make a peep. I woke to her foot steps in our room and her standing right in front of me- which was very startling. She has been going to bed at her usual time (somewhere in the window of falling asleep between 9:15pm and 11pm), and has been waking at her usual time of between 7am and 8am. The third night she did wake up at 3:30am and finished the night with us...she went right to sleep, when usually we are up for at least an hour trying to calm her back down. We still sometimes do a stroller walk to calm her down, but she has been sleeping in her bed since Thursday night (she had been taking all her naps in her stroller for the last 6 months or so).

I checked out a book from the library, Raising Your Spirited Child, by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka, and there is a very helpful chapter on sleep. Gwen seems to fit the description of spirited: lively, creative, keen, eager, full of energy and courage. Try putting that to sleep! Sheedy lists five characteristics that spirited children have more of: intensity, persistence, sensitivity, perceptiveness, adaptability. Gwen also has one of the bonus characteristics she talks about, ENERGY! This article has a good breadown of the books approach. It has taken us 20 months, but Gwen is now on a schedule (her schedule, nothing we imposed), but it is more or less the same every day. And it took us this long for her to consistently sleep through the night (one wake up once or twice a month is totally manageable!). Now, if she could just put herself to sleep.......