Monday, May 10, 2010

The Sleepy Monster

No, I'm not referring to Aolani -- although I may have thought that before...

but this girl fights sleep! Whenever she gets tired, she screams and cries like she is being tortured by the sleepy monster. She does not nap during the day, which would be fine if she was awake and pleasant. But, she is awake and everyone knows it. She needs people to help her embrace sleep as she is having a hard time learning to self-soothe. We've researched ideas; any suggestions? The "let her cry it out" method doesn't really work for her, as she'll cry for two hours through her nap time until it's time to feed again.

We started a bedtime routine at night (snuggle time while reading the Bible, diaper and outfit change, nursing, singing, massaging...). It's going well. She started sleeping through the night on her 2-month anniversary, and WE ARE SO THANKFUL!

Bottom line: she sleeps but only at night. The upside is that we are learning a lot about the character of God (and the love of our own parents) through this. There are countless spiritual analogies with children ;)

p.s. After a few late nights (with her in bed already!) of hard work, the puzzle is complete. Here's a picture of Aolani working diligently.