the sleep factor

Sleep. 

That glorious, necessary, daily coma of goodness. I require a lot of it. Always have. The hubby? Not so much. But my girl seems to have followed in my footsteps of needing a solid amount of good, quality zzz's each day and night to function.

Which is why it feels like our house has been turned upside down for the past month and a half. Sister's sleep has been sorely lacking and we're all feeling the effects. 

About 2 weeks before Christmas, Evie finally decided she could crawl out of her bed. I know- 3 solid years (!) we had in the crib. I was so thankful she lasted that long. But once she figured out how to escape, that was all she wanted to do. Which put us in a bind, because we didn't want to transition her to a big bed just days before going out of town, where she would need to sleep in a pack n play. So we toughed it out through our holiday travels, and let me tell you- it.was.tough. Every night we would think she was asleep and then hours later would hear her thumping around in the playroom upstairs. We  could never hear her actually get out of her crib, so we wouldn't even know she was up until she started making noise! Naps were the same. It was extremely frustrating, especially because she would be so tired and cranky from not getting her typical 14-15 hours of sleep a day. Christmas was a game-changer when I got the most amazing, necessary gift ever: a video monitor. I set it up immediately and that very first nap (on Christmas day), I laid her down very sleepy, shut the door and walked down the stairs. I looked at the monitor in the kitchen to see that monkey halfway out of her bed! I believe I shouted something obscene in hubby's general direction and raced back up there to catch her. She flew back down on that mattress so fast I nearly died laughing. 

Once we were back in town and back to normal (like, the very same night), we moved her to her big girl bed. I feel like it was such a mad, exhausted, flurry of a transition that I didn't even have a moment to get sentimental about it all. I was nervous that she would just get up and be all over the place, but she did so amazingly well. I told her she couldn't get out of bed without mommy or daddy and to call for us. She stayed in there all night! And amazingly, this little transition has also prodded her to stay dry each nap and night, as she wakes up and calls for us when she needs to go potty. I'm loving that little perk, because I hadn't even given much thought to how to night train her. 

So where are we now? Oh, you know, back to needing our sleep. Somewhere along the line, she wasn't feeling good and maybe having a bad dream, and started waking up 2-4 times per night, crying for us. At first, it's no big deal, but it has slowly and surely become a habit for her. If she were still in her crib, I would let her cry it out and go back to sleep, because I know she is fully capable of that. But now, if we don't come up, she'll come out of her room and cry and scream for us at the top of the stairs. On top of this fun development, she skipped 3 or 4 naps last week. And let me tell you- NO ONE around here is ready for the nap to die. I seriously almost had a breakdown thinking about what we would do all day without a solid break from each other, not to mention that's my prime work-from-home time. 

And the beautiful thread that holds this all together?? No nap + waking up all night long = one cranky, sassy three-year-old. SLEEP. We NEED it. It is truly like night and day with my sweet girl when she has gotten all the rest she needs… or not. Being cooped up all winter long is also playing into this, I'm sure. I cannot wait for spring to get here so we can be outside all day!

So that's what we've been up to. I do have some other fun things to blog about, but it's hard to concentrate on anything else sometimes! I know this is just a phase, but it is sooo reminding me of the dark days of colic and her five, 30 minute naps a day. I was obsessed with sleep. Literally. 

So when did your little one give up the nap? Any suggestions on how to wean the night waking?? I need all the help I can get!