A trying time

My precious little angel went from a relatively great sleeper who self soothed herself to sleep when I put her down for her midday and evening sleeps, to a feisty, determined little person who for some reason feared sleep and didn't want to be left alone in her cot.  This started exactly two weeks ago and it truly has been a physically and emotionally draining and exhausting 14 days.

Initially we thought her reluctance to go to sleep was due to the fact that her granny and great granny were visiting and she didn't want to miss out on anything happening downstairs while she was being made to go to sleep.  She definitely suffers from FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) at times!  However, after noticing how incredibly swollen her little gums were and then a few days later, the appearance of 2 pearly whites, made me realise that it must be that she is teething which is causing the upsets.  She is so incredibly busy during the day I don't think she has time to register that she is uncomfortable, but perhaps when she is a little more quiet and subdued, the pressure, discomfort and pain, probably sets it.

Thankfully, our doctor confirmed that Lily wasn't ill so there was nothing to worry about medically.  Unfortunately, he didn't hear my subtle pleas for drugs to help with her sleeping!  However, our family GP in East London showed a little more sympathy and gave us a script for a miracle medicine which isn't habit forming and doesn't metabolise in the body so is completely safe.  It has made a world of difference these last 5 nights enabling Lily (and us) to sleep through (touch wood it lasts!).  Unfortunately it wasn't helping with the settling of her though prior to falling asleep so I decided to bite the bullet and consult a Baby Routine Specialist which I did this morning.

I left the specialist with 2 pages of notes on her diet and how to start sleep training.  I decided that this was the perfect time to start (today is a Thursday) as my husband is away on a long weekend fishing trip and his reluctance to hear his child crying wouldn't affect my efforts.  When I put Lily down for her midday nap, she cried as expected.  I let her cry for 5 minutes, went inside, comforted her for about 10 seconds and then walked out.  I then waited for another 10 minutes while she screamed and then went into her room again to comfort her.  I was instructed to increase the length of time I was out of her bedroom for 5 minutes every time.  Luckily I didn't have to go in a 3rd time as she fell asleep just before her next 15 minutes were up.  So she essentially cried for just under 25 minutes in total - a very long and draining 25 minutes where I just sat staring at the clock on my phone and listening to her screams.

Luckily tonight was different.  I gave her her miracle medicine at 18h30, she had her bath at 18h45 and got ready for bed at 19h10.  We read 3 short stories and then I said goodnight, I love you and put her peacefully in her bed.  I thought that she was rather docile and could possibly not protest, but as I closed her door she let out her signature scream and cried, however, this time I was pleasantly surprised that her crying only lasted 3 minutes and then silence!  I'm not getting my hopes up for tomorrow's naps, but it could have been a lot worse.

Here's hoping that the sleep training works by the end of the weekend as the specialist suggested it would.  I am going to be tough and stick to the rules and guidelines and if the specialist is as good as people say she is, Lily should be back to the angel sleeper she used to be by Sunday!