She's been on this kick of crying when we lay her down at night. We've started going back into her room and telling her to lay her head on her blankie and shut her eyes. She is then satisfied to fall asleep...just wants one last human interaction.
Last night was slightly different. She screamed and wailed, so I took her out and rocked her for a bit. Then I put her back in her crib and went downstairs. I heard a bang and loud yelling and then it got quiet...good..Nate was dealing with her. He later told me that she hopped out of her crib and was banging and yelling at the door. He calmed her down and put her back. She was still piping mad, so I held her for a bit and she was finally satisfied.
....until 2am. The yelling and screaming resumed. We decided that she was getting TOO used to us harkening to her demands, so we let her scream for 45 minutes. I told Nate that I couldn't stand it anymore when I heard her banging at the door again. He asked me what I was going to do about it...sleep in the garage? :-) I had actually thought about it, but then I'd have to start the car and that would be dangerous. Besides, it needed gas and I didn't want to drive to the station in the middle of the night. Guess I could've taken her with me and called it an outing! I was worried that she wanted to get back into her crib but couldn't. I broke down and entered her room and informed her that mommy was tired and that she needed to lay back down and hug her pig. That worked.
....until 3:15, when I was still trying to fall asleep from the previous episode. We let her cry for a LONG time. I even heard her get back into her crib. Then she continued to wail for Mommy and Daddy. I started to wonder if she was hungry or thirsty from all of the late night activity. Maybe her diaper was poopy. Maybe her brand new eye teeth were hurting again. Maybe she just needed extra love that I couldn't give her during the day when all the other kids were around.
I was not tired anyway, so got back up and fumbled around in the kitchen, returning to her room with some pumpkin bread, milk, and tylenol.
I told her to crawl into her crib and I'd give her a snack (I wanted to see if she could actually do it). Sure enough, she grunted and heaved herself over the railing that was 5 inches over her head, and did a nose dive unto her mattress. I left her be. That worked.
...until 5:15 when Nate's alarm went off, shortly after I had finally dozed off. Sure enough, even though Nate is NOT loud, Rhya heard him and started wailing. After 15 min everything got quiet, so curiosity got the best of me. I found Nate and asked him where Rhya was. He didn't know!! I finally found her wandering around the guest bedroom. She gave me this 'trying not to smile', 'I got what I wanted' look, and I told her to come to bed with me. We slept soundly for the next hour until I had to get up for the day...in which Rhya heard me and hopped out of bed.
Guess what I've been doing today? Rearranging!! The husband will be a little surprised when he sees the queen bed frame on its side, waiting for him to haul it to the basement.
A toddler bed will take the place of her crib. She WILL learn to get back to bed. Now I don't have to worry about crib accidents. The only other thing that would be quite cool is an automatic water and snack dispenser that can hook to the side of her bed. Maybe that falls in the category of 'spoiling'.
Now. Where are the earplugs?
Next thing you know she'll b bringing you pumpkin bread and a drink in the night. Wouldn't that be a treat? ;)
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