A Christmas Miracle

A miracle has taken place in our family. If you've read my previous posts about sleep deprivation you know that we've struggled with Grace's sleep habits for pretty much her whole life up until this point. We started out with her in a bassinet next to our bed. I'd wake up and feed her throughout the night, and then put her back in the bassinet when she fell asleep. After only a few days she quit going back to sleep very easily. I'd be up with her for hours in the middle of the night singing and swearing and rocking her back to sleep. I couldn't take this anymore, so I started laying in our bed while she nursed, and just falling asleep. This worked like a charm. She'd wake up and eat a few times throughout the night, but I'd mostly sleep through it, and she'd go right back to sleep herself. Once she started getting a little bigger, and moving more I decided we needed a new arrangement. Our bed was only a full size, and someone was always getting pushed off. I started nursing and rocking her to sleep in her room. and then putting her down in her crib, and that worked for a while, but then she started waking up when I laid her down, and she ended up back in our bed again. That's about the time that I got pregnant. I was exhausted, and struggling with morning sickness. Her kicking me in the stomach in bed was the last straw, and I got really desperate. I tried several different things to get her to sleep in her own bed, and through the whole night. I'd always been against crying it out, but I was willing to try anything, so I started putting her down with some lavender oil in the humidifier, and just letting her cry. This actually worked really well. I think that by this time she was old enough to understand bed time, and she didn't have any doubts that me and Jeff were there to take care of her no matter what. We had let her run the house up until this point, and I sort of realized that we were the problem, not her. We had never taught her proper sleep habits. We let her run her own schedule, which resulted in all of us being over-tired, and miserable. Sometimes what's best for your child will not make them happy in the moment, and I needed to learn that. All of the details of what happened between now and then are a blur, but for the last 2-3 weeks we have been telling Grace it's time to go to sleep, giving her hugs and kisses, laying her down in her crib with her baby, stuffed puppy, and blanket, and leaving. Every night she tells us, "Bye" and "Love you," and I don't hear a word from her again until morning. Today I did the same for nap time. I wish I knew exactly what combination of things made this possible, so I can repeat it with the next one, but I almost think that God is just making up for my own parenting mistakes, and giving us a little break. We really needed some structure, and I had been praying for a solution to Grace's sleep issues. I didn't know how I was going to handle a newborn baby while still having to take care of Grace throughout the night. Problem solved.