The following is a glossary of the words Sophie screamed during our 105-minute bedtime "session" tonight. (Tonight was officially Night 1 of changing Sophie's sleeping habits, also known as Modified Cry It Out.)
"Daddy" -- Me. Used to plead her case that daddy is a horrible person for inflicting this change of routine on her.
"Mommy" -- Lisa. Used to beg assistance from the person she has previously rejected at bedtime.
"Baby" -- Sophie. Used to encourage me to treat her like a baby. Sophie uses this term frequently and quite literally: there are times she wants to be picked up, cradled in our arms and sung lullabies to. ("Rock-A-Bye Baby" is the only one I know.) Usually it's very sweet and we gladly play along, since it's unlikely she had enough babying either from the orphanage or her foster family.
"Nose" -- Like me, Sophie has a runny nose right now, so she regularly asked to have it wiped.
"Boo Boo" -- A sympathy tactic to make us think she was in pain and also an attempt to get a Dora or Elmo Band-Aid.
"Mine" -- Indicating panic. Unlike a lot of 2-year-olds, this is not one of her daily vocabulary words. Instead, it comes out when she's having a nightmare or other such fearful moment.
"Sit Down" -- Delivered in the strictest of tones, this was Sophie's last-ditch effort to get me to sit so she could climb into my lap and fall asleep. She even pointed to the exact spot next to her bed where this usually happens.
"Good night"/"I love you"/"It's bedtime" -- Pretty much the only words I said to her tonight, but said over and over as I continued to put back in bed and then return to my chair to wonder what the hell we were doing.
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2 comments:
Although we never got to that point -- TheBoy made it through his first cry-it-out night in half an hour or so -- we have friends who had to be physically restrained by their spouses the first few times they tried this. Be strong! It will be worth the pain, for all three of you, once she masters the art of putting herself to sleep.
Last night (night #2) went SOOOO much better. She even slept better through the night. I'm starting to think these so-called "experts" actually know what they're talking about.
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