complaining after being left out in her crib

[aperez@gc.cuny.edu]

Hello TorsMamma!

Thank you for your message, it's always great to see a response in the forum

Ok, the room is not pitch black at 6 in the morning #-o ... I'll make sure it is. However, the issue (early morning wakings) is no longer an issue, it seems. As you said: issues come and issues go... and I'm afraid I have to add: issues return! We are back at crying when put to bed and protesting for 5 or 10 minutes. That was what brought me to the forum in the first place. We follow the schedule every day and she is a happy almost 9 month old baby. At night she has dinner, I bathe her, we play, she laughs (this is not always easy), then I take her to the room, most days with her still smiling... but the minute I put her on the crib mattress she begins to protest (cries). What helped the most (actually Sarisparis' suggestion) with this issue was making use of household noise after putting her to bed... we still do it, but it seems to have lost some effectiveness (?) Any other idea?

Thank you so much!

Adriana

[Sarisparis]

Hi Adriana,

I went on holiday, glad to see that TorsMamma popped in to our discussion.

Yes, issues come and issues go and I guess that the main issue for you right now is the fact that your daughter is 8-9 months and hence a bit more sensitive than usual. My GNS-book is still not available, but I believe there's something written on this subject. Maybe in the chapter The child and the cure. Have a look and see what you think of it. Basicely, what happens at 8-9 months is that the child becomes aware that he's in fact an independant person, not connected to mum. For some kids this is a difficult phase and the external signs can be protests when mum (or dad) leaves the room etc. During this phase it's important to assure the child that everything is ok.

Maybe this issue is already gone, you've been waiting a while to hear from us.

[aperez@gc.cuny.edu]

Hello Sarisparis!

Thanks for your response. I'm sorry I didn't checked on it before... Things settled for a while and the issues I was concerned about were gone But, I'm back with some new questions/issues! (you will never have time to really miss me, he he )

Clara will be 11 months next week and because lately (the past 3 weeks) her midday nap (12:30- 2:30) was becoming a little troublesome: she protested a lot when I put her down. I though that maybe she was ready to quit the morning nap (9:00-9:20) and she would be more tired by noon. But three things have happened since I got rid of the morning nap: One, she is very cranky around 11:00 am and some times she is falling asleep at lunch. Two, oddly enough, she is sleeping for shorter periods in what is supposed to be her long nap. She sleeps 1hr and 10 or 15 minutes only and would not go back to sleep. Three, she is waking up between 5:30 and 6:30 am while her waking up time has always been 7AM. One thing though, she is going to bed closer to 7:30PM than to 8PM which was her original bed time. She is always exhausted by 7:30PM But that shouldn't be the cause for waking up early....

I know that everything is connected so, I'm pretty sure that lack of sleep in the morning is resulting in lack of sleep in the middle of the day The problem is: when she does take that 20 minutes nap around 9AM she doesn't want to go down for a nap at 12:30, not even at 12:45 or 1:00
I tried letting her take a 5 minute nap in the morning but it didn't make much of a difference.
What do you suggest? Any ideas will be, of course, welcome I feel like I just lost it... we had such a great schedule a month ago!

Thanks a lot,

Adriana

[Sarisparis]

11 months already Time flies

That can be a tricky age, as you say the morning nap seems necessary but finally messes things up for the afternoon nap (the real nap 8) ).

I'd suggest that you skip the morning nap anyhow. I'd serve lunch a bit earlier and hence put her to bed a bit earlier for the afternoon nap.

I guess the crankiness you describe also is due to her poor sleeping in the afternoon and her early mornings. I bet that once she sleeps well during the afternoon the rest will also be just fine.

What do you think?

[aperez@gc.cuny.edu]

Hi there!

I think you're right... we've been skipping the morning nap but she eats luch at 11:15 now and I put her down for her nap at around 11:45. She slept two hours the first two days we did that! Today though she only slept for 1 hr. I think that I may take a little bit till she gets used to this new shcedule, but I hope she goes back to having a real good nap in the middle of the day.... Also, I may need to put her a little earlier to bed for the night maybe 7:30 since she will be awake since 1:30PM or about.

One other question:

We will be traveling next week. The time difference is only one hour (thank goodness!) Do you suggest that we adjust the schedule 15 minutes at a time. We will be away for 7 weeks so adjusting slowly wouldn't be a problem. Or you think that at Clara's age she can take a fast adjustment? I still think that an hour difference is still a lot for her, but maybe she can easily handle half an hour. I'd love to know your thoughts on this.

Warm regards from summery Brooklyn, NY

Adriana



Ok, I'll keep you posted Thanks so much for your response

[Sarisparis]

Seems you're on the right track regarding the midday nap

As for your holidays, one possibility is of course to adjust the schedule 15 minutes per day. But given that you travel for one day (no panic if the schedule is not respected that day, but a good idea is to try to keep the meal order), my guess is that you can go much faster. As everything around you will be different (one tip though : bring along the pillow and the sheets she slept in at home so that her bed remains unchanged in your holiday house), it's easier to change the bedtime hours as well. I'd plan for a change for 30 min a day if you see that she's still in your "home time", but would not be afraid to adapt to the "vacation time" right ahead if your daughter seem to handle it. Travelling can be very tiring or on the contrary very stimulating 8)

Anyway, enjoy your long holidays!

[aperez@gc.cuny.edu]

Hello Sarisparis!

The vacation is almost over and I can finally post a response (sorry for the terrible delay) and thanks so much for your last message. Clara, my daughter, handled the time zone change super! I did bring her blanket along. We will be back home in a week and I plan to adjust the schedule in one single day as she had no problem whatsoever (after all it's just one hour difference).

Regards,

Adriana

[Sarisparis]

Hi Adriana and thanks for keeping us posted!

Great to hear that everything turned out well and that Clara adapted smoothly. Congrats to your great Attitude!