She had been falling asleep with one of us laying with her in the queen bed we share, then when baby and I were ready we moved Makena to the livingroom to sleep on the couch bed with Pam. But she was excited by the idea of her own special bed, especially after noticing all her friends beds. In mid-March she asked if she could put herself to sleep, to prove that she was ready for her own bed.
I kept looking on craigslist for a deal, and finally found a cheap loft bed that I thought would be great. Then I woke up the morning I was scheduled to go buy it and thought about how Makena moves so much and sleepwalks a bit. (she has never gotten out of bed, but she frequently sits up in bed and mumbles and then flops back down.) I decided to pass on the bed and think of other options. There was a space issue though, a loft meant we could just put it over some furniture in the already cramped bedroom.
Thankfully a perfect solution came up, someone was selling an Ikea Kura kids loft bed for $100, mattress included! We had gone to the store, just she and I, and picked out a bedding set. She said she wanted a licensed character set, Disney princess or Frozen or My Little Pony, etc. but at the store we saw a purple polka dot/butterfly/flower pattern and I was relieved that it wasn't something so commercialized so we bought it.
We had a tough time figuring out where it would fit. Finally it was decided that the crib had to go. :( It's being stored in my parent's basement for now, since Hadley is in bed with me anyways. We also had to move Makena's white dresser out, and now that's in the living room. Not ideal, but we're doing the best we can with our small apartment!
We put her toy shelf and little couch and stuffed animals under the loft. She's got a really cute little place space now, and I made these curtains for her so it's a bit private and special. (I'm using the term "made" loosely, I just cut a curtain in half and sewed a pocket for a shower rod to hold it up!)
March 29th was her first night in her new bed.
The first few nights were rough, she wanted so badly to show us she could fall asleep on her own. She had been practicing that and was very proud of herself! But with the new bed she needed some help getting used to it. Sometimes Hadley would need me to carry her and walk around without stopping, so on night's when I was solo for the evening I would just have to say goodnight to Makena and check back on her intermittently. Eventually she'd fall asleep despite sometimes sadly crying "I just can't go to sleep alone!"
So with the new bed we were nervous/excited to see her transition into this new phase. It was tricky for a bit, we told her right from the start that adults can't go up there with her, so we would stand at the side and hug her and sing while she fell asleep. But in the middle of the night or very early morning she would wake up and ask to go sleep with Mama in the living room. Of course I always told her that was fine. Sometimes she'd ask to come down and snuggle with me but I'd have to nurse the baby since she'd wake up and then Makena would want to go to Mama.
At the end of April Pam suggested we do a little sticker reward chart, and she and Makena decided that after 10 nights of falling asleep and staying in bed all night, Makena would get something special.
The first night she cried and said it was too hard. :( We told her the nights don't have to be all in a row, and she asked if we could change it to 8 nights. We said that was fine, just trying to keep the whole thing very casual.
Well she did the next 8 nights all in a row! She fell asleep in bed, mostly with Pam standing next to the bed, cuddling her, but a couple nights Pam is out late so I sat in the room and got Hadley to sleep and put on bedtime music for Makena and she fell asleep! She was so proud of herself, and kept adding her stickers to the chart and getting excited about her prize. And what did she ask for, when I said she could pick something special? A piece of Easter candy. Lol! Then later she said she wanted to go with the whole family to Area 151, a fun little arcade where she likes to redeem her game tickets for little Disney Squinkies. She was very upset when we told her we would definitely go there, but couldn't that day.
And now for bedtime she usually falls asleep pretty quickly after a goodnight hug and kiss. I play or hum or sing her favorite bedtime songs while I sit on my bed and rock/bounce Hadley to sleep and most of the time Makena's asleep within 10 minutes. It helps when bedtime is around 8pm. It's been 7pm for a couple years, but now with summer it seems to be getting pushed back a bit, and then she has an easier time getting to sleep.
In the early morning, around 6/7am Makena wakes up and asks to come down into bed with me. We cuddle a bit but usually the baby is waking up and nursing around then, and eventually Makena goes into the living room to cuddle with Pam. I miss the days when Makena and I would wake up together and cuddle. Now I'm turned the other way with the baby attached to my boob and it's just not the same. We've gone through soooooo many different sleep arrangements in the past 4+ years. This is working really well, but I'm sure something will change eventually! Like a baby that crawls. Oof. We will cross that bridge when we get there!!
No comments:
Post a Comment