Sleeping Woes

My little girl has started having a little more trouble going to sleep; she stays awake a bit longer and then wakes an hour or so later, needing mom or I to come rock her back to sleep or just stand there lovingly so that she knows she's safe.

This has led to some interesting things.

Last night, for example, all she wanted was to have me in sight while she drifted off to sleep or she would cry and fuss, not sleep. I could be across the room and not paying her any attention but she had to be able to see me so I ended up in the awesome rocking chair that we have: she could see my head while I relaxed across the room and so she flipped herself on her side and started sucking her thumb.

As she drifted off to sleep I tried to get up and walk out but that resulted in half an hour of a lonely baby crying and tears. I wiped the tears off my face and went back in to help her, ending up in that same chair.

A few attempts later resulted in the same thing, with me sitting in the chair as she quietly sucked her thumb and watched me.

Finally, instead of standing up I slipped down toward the floor, ever. So. Slowly. Not a peep from the baby. I crawled across the floor; no tears or noise. I reached the edge of where her crib meets the door and that's when she saw me. Tears. Crying. Back to the chair.

Ten minutes later I did it again but this time I commando crawled out of the room. No tears. No crying. She slept.

So now all I have to do is use every bit of sneakery in my bag of trips to keep my tired baby sleeping in her crib. That's not too much to ask, I suppose.

Now if you'll pardon me, I have to go practice my commando crawls.