Sleep

Since our move to Carpinteria on the 1st, Layla has been thrown off. Which has expressed itself primarily in the form of lots of screaming and little sleep. She has always had an aversion to nap time and bed time, perhaps because she is a little socialite and hates to be left alone in her crib. Napping in the car or stroller isn't a problem, but boy does she ever let us know her distaste for napping in her crib!

Well it has become quite unreasonable and so the past two days we decided we needed to put an end to her stubborness as it relates to sleep. We probably should have done this earlier, but we didn't. Anyways, the last two days we have made her stay in her crib regardless of how long and furiously she screamed about it. We sang to her and tried things to help her calm down--but would not actually take her out until after she had napped.

Letting a child "cry it out" is one of the hardest things to do. Because you love them. And to say "crying" isn't really adequate. It's more like piercing screams, pitiful heart-wrenching sobs of desperation. It's one thing to listen to someone else's kid cry, quite another to hear your own. But I am learning that the best thing for her (and for us) is not to let her have her own way or to give in.

She will be a happier baby if she can learn to sleep when she is tired without screaming for a solid half hour first. She will be a happier person if she can learn that she cannot be rescued out of every hard or unwanted situation but must be able to comfort herself and get through it.

Growing up is hard.