This may have gone through my head as an option once or twice. Thanks to what can only be described as "constant vigilance" with regard to schedule and routine mixed with a calm and humane but stict approach to "sleep training" Amelia has been sleeping in her crib in her nursery from 8:30pm-7:30am for 6 months.
Right now I should be patting myself on the back for having her on such an easy and healthy schedule. "Should" being the operative word. You see, starting on Sunday {4 nights ago} our formerly angelic sleeper has been waking up either an hour and half early or {much much worse} waking at around 3:00am and not going back down until 5:00am and that would be 2 solid hours of fighting with all of her strength. I'm pretty sure that this sudden change has been brought on by the mild cold that she's been fighting {she has a stuffy nose which I think wakes her up} but the staying awake while standing up in her crib screaming? That's a hideous horse or a different color.
Right now I should be patting myself on the back for having her on such an easy and healthy schedule. "Should" being the operative word. You see, starting on Sunday {4 nights ago} our formerly angelic sleeper has been waking up either an hour and half early or {much much worse} waking at around 3:00am and not going back down until 5:00am and that would be 2 solid hours of fighting with all of her strength. I'm pretty sure that this sudden change has been brought on by the mild cold that she's been fighting {she has a stuffy nose which I think wakes her up} but the staying awake while standing up in her crib screaming? That's a hideous horse or a different color.
That would be separation anxiety. After 2 nights of this I spent hours reading every single thing that I could get my hands on {emails to the pediatrician, the American Academy of Pediatrics website, "What to Expect the First Year", and countless message boards just to name a very few} and it became very clear that this is what we were/are dealing with. For about a month or so she's been showing signs of separation anxiety with me during awake hours and it's definitely been worse at the times when she's sleepy. Well, sadly {both for Amelia & her parents} this same thing happens at night at this age {it's one of those developmental milestones that pediatricians label "good" when talking to frazzled parents with bloodshot eyes} and the only "cure" is a stronger version of sleep training. I say "stronger" because she's now able to stand up in her crib which means that she can cry for what feels like an eternity whereas a smaller baby lies there and gets tired of crying pretty quickly. Cheyenne and I read for hours and then discussed our plan of action should she wake up at 3:00am again. We girded our loins for a long and emotional night but of course, she decided to throw a curve ball and sleep soundly until 7:30am. If I didn't know better I would say she's messing with us...
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