Sleep

She finally did it! We knew she could, she just needed a little coaxing. As Emily was getting older she was getting smarter too. She quickly figured out that every time she woke up in the middle of the night Mama would come into her room, feed her, snuggle with her and put her back into a blissful sleep. I fell into this trap and was getting up with her frequently every night. Let's just say she slept better as a 2 month old than she did as a 8 1/2 month old. So... desperate times call for desperate measures right? Well I decided I would try to let her cry it out over the long Memorial weekend. I said I never wanted to do this, but it is amazing how sleep deprivation changes your perspective. Night 1 went ok. She cried once for me and I went in to let her know I was there but quickly left. She cried for 13 minutes...13 painful minutes for me. I just knew Emily was going to be furious with me the next morning. Actually just the opposite, she was smiling and seemed just as content as always. Night 2 we followed the same procedure, this time Emily cried for just 5 minutes. Really it was 5 minutes of whimpering and whining. Last night we were ready to continue following the sleep training procedure, but we didn't have to. She slept from 9:00-6:00! What a difference that made for both of us. If I had known how easily Emily would have adapted I would have done this months ago. Although I will be honest and say that I loved nursing her in the middle of the night. It was so peaceful, warm and cuddly... but so is my bed that I now get to stay in a little bit more each night!!