The Great Sleep Saga

When we visited family in Oregon this past summer, Sarah decided it was time to learn how to climb out of her Pack 'n Play portable crib one night. That put an end to her falling asleep in a crib unless she nursed to sleep. We returned home three weeks later and tried to put her to sleep in her own crib, and she promptly climbed/fell out of it, left the room, and came out into the hall.

The next day, we transformed the crib into a toddler bed with a partial side rail. She didn't know what to do with that, and she thrashed around in her room for a while until she finally fell asleep. We sat and talked to her through the door while she struggled to go down for almost an hour before falling asleep on the floor inside her bedroom door - for 10-12 hours until morning! That was hard for her parents too.

After a night or two of sleeping on the floor, she finally decided the bed was a fun option after Mom made her a pillow of her very own-a "soft" as she called it. Victory!

That lasted for a week or so, and then she refused to go to sleep in her bed at all for a long time. Months.

EVIDENCE

 First night in the Winnie the Pooh chair. The first few times, we went in and moved her to her bed after a little while. Soon, she got wise to that and started waking up as soon as we walked in the room, so we just left her there.

 Next many nights involved jumping, cartwheels, and non-sleeping.

She tried the rocking chair for a while.

For some reason, she liked to pile all of the books in the chair, read from some of them, then fall asleep amidst the books. Absorption of knowledge?

 More reconnaissance pictures from the IR camera.

More Pooh chair/floor.

 More not sleeping in her bed.

Pooh chair. For most of a couple of months, the Pooh chair was the preferred docking station.

How can someone sleep for 10-12 hours straight in that position?!

The Pooh chair was occupied, so the floor was apparently still a viable option.

And another try at the rocking chair. Definitely more comfortable than the Pooh chair, but not Sarah's preferred choice most of the time.

STROLLER

Falling asleep in her stroller all bundled up still works most of the time with Sarah. Then we park the stroller in the front entry and let her sleep until whenever.

One night we found her partially in the bed, and we rejoiced. Then she went back to sleeping in her Pooh chair for a week or two. But then she started to gradually accept her bed again.

 For a nap.

 Then for whole nights.

Instead of piling the books into her chairs, she began to pile them into her bed and play/read until her war with sleep overcame her and she fell asleep in her book/blanket nest.

She's somewhere in that nest. We saw it move a couple of times.

Mommy keeps saying it's Daddy's fault, because he has sleep issues. And he can and does fall asleep anywhere, anytime. This is what Emily woke up to one morning recently.

Sarah still has naptime issues, frequently finding everything to do except nap (even though she's exceptionally tired) - cry, jump on the bed, read books, talk non-stop at the video camera, arrange objects in her room on the chairs or bed or floor, explore other bed options that aren't practical.....

The other day, Sarah fell asleep watching a Disney movie. First time falling asleep not nursing, in a carseat, or in hers or Mommy's room. This was a day she had also refused to nap. In the battle between humans and sleep, sleep will inevitably win. Most of us humans choose not to battle sleep, as it's such a crucial ally.

...

In case you thought the battle was over, it isn't. Sometimes Sarah still decides it's time to be awake for the day - at midnight, at 2 a.m., or 4:30 a.m. We changed her lever door handle out for a round, harder-to-turn knob so she wouldn't escape in the middle of the night and wander around the house or fall down the stairs in the dark.  She has learned to knock.

Sunday two hours prior to sunrise has been her favorite lately. 4:30 happens, Sarah knocks on the door and says, "Mommy's comin'," and out of bed we (usually Mommy) come to try to put her back to sleep. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes she ends up in our bed, and then Mommy doesn't get productive sleep for the next couple of hours while Sarah settles down and finally drifts off.

But she wakes up happy.

And she turns on both bedside lamps to signal that we aren't allowed to sleep anymore. Then she fishes around in the dresser and finds clothes for the parents. Finally, she literally pulls Mommy and Daddy out of bed.