Thursday, June 26, 2008

A Whole Different Side of Reagan

Since we have been home from our trip to Michigan, Reagan's personality has changed quite a bit. She used to be so happy and easy going, and now, all of the sudden, she is quite fussy and temperamental. She has decided that she no longer likes the stroller, the car seat, or the pacifier (so in other words anything that makes her fall asleep). She basically hates to go to sleep! And I guess I can't blame her, I mean who would want to miss out on playing with me all day long :). But the stroller bit is really killing me because I loved being able to take her out on my morning run. Now she gets halfway down the block and screams constantly until the stroller comes to a stop in our garage. I'm hoping it is just a phase! Also, because she won't take the pacifier, it has become harder and harder to get her down for naps and asleep for the night. Many times, after lots of fussing and crying, I revert to nursing her to sleep. But a few nights ago, she was extremely tired but fighting sleep with all her might. So we decided (Steve made the ultimate decision) to let her cry herself to sleep in her crib for the first time ever. We decided we would go and get her if the crying lasted more than 15 minutes. But to our surprise, a miserable 11 minutes later, she was out! It was such a good feeling to know that she could get herself to sleep without being nursed, rocked, or walked for a hundred laps around the house! Since then she has done it several other times, but there have also been times when she has cried for more than 15 minutes and in those cases, I go to her and rock her to sleep. But we are making progress. And hopefully with a little more sleep, our good spirited little Reagan with reappear!

2 comments:

Crazy Love said...

I know how you feel! It can be so fustrating to have a fussy baby who was once a little angel. Just don't give up and stick with Healthly Sleep Habits, Happy Child! I promise it will work out and Reagan will be back to her happy self soon! I know it...that book is a miracle worker!! My girls still are sleeping a ton and they are almost 18 months old...I promise it works!! I miss you and love all the pics. I hope to hear from you soon!

Brandon and Carolyn Schroder said...

Thanks for posting this- I know it could happen to me at any time- Cailyn is so chill right now. I'm so proud of you letting her self-sooth... that's awesome. Thank goodness you had steve there... erica is going to have to come over and help me when it's time- she's my "hammer" while Brandon's away.