She can do it!

Yesterday I wrote about how I need to get back on track and really give these baby rearin' strategies that I've been reading about a chance to work. So since I found yesterday that every single little thing I do to get Alia to sleep is a big fat No-No, I thought I'd try things the right way.

First of all, there's a reason Alia has been sleeping with me...she would not, could not sleep alone in her crib. In fact, in the early days, if you wanted to make Alia cry, you put her in the crib. But yesterday I was all about challenging myself...I don't want to be one of "those Moms" that unbeknownst to them, helps to create situations with their kids by automatically assuming that they know things that may not be the case anymore...example..."no, Suzy won't eat carrots, don't even try it"...you get what I'm saying...I want to keep an open mind and try my best not to fall into that. On the other hand, since Alia turned purple with tears and tantrums the last time I tried to put her in the crib, I suppose I did make a note to self that Alia won't be sleeping in the crib anytime soon. But Alia's preferences are moving targets these days.

Anyway, I am proud to say that yesterday, Alia took a 45 minute nap in her crib. I put her down, rubbed her belly, stroked her hair, said nice things to her, and as she began to drift off, I stepped away. When I came back to check on her 15 minutes later, here's what I found...can you believe it? The crib actually does function as a place to sleep!

Fueled by this success, I challenged both of us to try sleeping apart last night, and to my mixed emotions, I can report that Alia did in fact sleep in her crib last night. And after feeding every 3 hours? She went right back to her crib!