Wyrmling is not a good sleeper these days. While I really shouldn't complain, especially since I have a friend whose 6 week old will only sleep 20 minutes at a time, we were spoiled by her sleeping through the night from about 4 months to 6-7 months. Then she started waking up once or twice during the night, now it's been every 2-3 hours over the past week. Last night MIGHT have been a bit better, except....
I'm woken by my husband nudging me around 4 AM. He's saying something to me and I can't figure out what. Then I realize I'm hearing music. Pirate music. The Corsairs, to be specific. Singing Maggie May, to be more specific.
Wyrmling's ipod clock radio, which I put in her room, ironically, to play lullabies to help her sleep, TURNED ON BY ITSELF AT 4 FRIGGEN AM! We think that she turned on the alarm when she was fiddling with the clock that evening, or maybe it was the spirit of Steve Jobs come to wreak vengeance on an Apple-hating household (seriously, my husband and I despise Apple products, other than the ipod, which is just ok).
So. Wyrmling is still asleep. The Corsairs are still singing. They are an a cappella group, so when my husband first heard them over the monitor he thought there was someone talking in her room. He sleeps horribly under the best of conditions and has been going on about 2 hours of sleep every night this week, so the fact that he was awoken by this is just heartbreaking. I know that there's a ton of other music on the ipod, some of which she won't sleep through as well. So I sneak into her room. Very very quietly. I turn off the clock radio. Very very quietly. I turn the volume all the way down just in case. Very very quietly. She's still asleep. I quickly and quietly step out of her room, through the doorway, close the door behind me.
WAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sob!!!! (that was from me)
Take Wyrmling back to our room for nursing, which these days is the only way we can get her to sleep (if you have suggestions that don't involve "cry it out," we'd love to hear them!). Get her back to sleep. I don't remember if she went back to her crib with no fuss after that, or if we had to let her settle down with us before moving her to her crib. It's kind of a blur. Especially since I'm very, very tired today, since she only had a one hour nap. I know she will eventually drop her afternoon nap altogether, but I'd hope she'd start sleeping through the night before then.
Fast forward a couple days. She didn't go to sleep until 1:30 last night, but she did sleep 7 straight hours! She was exhausted, but maybe this is a sign of improvements to come!
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Good luck!!!
I'm actually getting better sleep now that she's staying in our bed part of the night. Alas, I can't say the same for my husband! Still working on ideas...
The goal here isn't to let her cry it out, but rather to let her know that bed and night are for sleeping. You can come in and soothe her and let her know she's okay, but pick her up as little as possible and put her down in bed again. Eventually you can start weaning her off the physical soothing, so that it's nursing, and then it's back rubs, and then it's you being near the crib, and then it's you talking to her from the door, and then she's self comforting, because she knows that if she needs you, you'll be there.
We've started bringing her into our room to nurse, setting her down on our bed until she enters deep sleep, then taking her back to crib. That works about 50% of the time. I actually feel like I'm getting better sleep when she does stay with us, but that isn't a good long-term solution because hubby is a very light sleeper and basically can't sleep with her in bed.