Nora is developing and hitting milestones faster than I can keep up with.
Last week, she learned how to go from a lying down to a sitting up position. Last night, she pulled up to stand in her crib.
Of course, these sitting up from lying down and pulling up to stand milestones have something in common–they both take place in the crib. In other words, instead of sleeping, Nora is spending her time in her crib practicing her new skills.
Every night this week, when I’ve put her in her crib for bed, she’s sat right up and played. After a 10-15 minute chunk of time, I’ll usually go in there to do a “sleep reminder” and lay her back down, telling her “It’s time for night-night” and I’ll walk right back out.
Rinse, lather, repeat. For one to two hours. Then she finally passes out.
Last night, she only figured out how to stand up that one time. Tonight? Well, let’s just say it’s a good thing we dropped her crib mattress down a notch before she went to bed, because Miss Nora was having a ball standing up in there. A couple of times, she cried because once she was up, she wasn’t quite sure how to get back down.
I know this nighttime routine is probably a phase, but maybe it’s not. Maybe this is how toddlers “ready” themselves for sleep in their cribs. But how are we supposed to handle? Are we doing the right thing by going in there and doing the “sleep reminders”?
If she is playing in there for one to two hours, does that mean she suddenly doesn’t need as much sleep anymore, and we should be putting her to bed later? Or is she just too distracted to sleep now that she is so excited about her new talent?
If it is a phase, how long can we expect this to last before the novelty wears off?
I have to say–right now, we think peeking in and seeing her standing up is the cutest.thing.ever. Especially because she’s always so smiley and so stinkin’ proud of herself. We just want to make sure she continues to get the sleep she needs, and that we don’t create any bad habits.
6 Responses to Taking a Stand
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About
I'm Heather. I'm 33 and have been married to Michael for seven years. Together, we have two beautiful little girls we love more than anything, and a miniature dachshund who drives us crazy. I'm a full-time working mom who has very little time for my own "stuff" these days, like home improvement, cooking/baking, cake decorating, and photography. Despite the team not making the playoffs since 1999, I'm STILL a Buffalo Bills fan, which I think speaks to my loyalty AND sense of humor. I can't wait to pick up the pace with travel again some day... you know, when we're done being ruled by tiny fists. Welcome to my blog.
Check out the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby. It has different suggestions at each age level.
I was always more inclined to just wait her out – she’ll get bored with it eventually, even if it takes a few weeks. She still probably does need the same amount of sleep, so as long as the crib is the most boring place possible in a very dark room, she’ll soon learn to just go to sleep. If she cries because she can’t get back down, I’d definitely wait awhile before going in because then she can learn how to get down on her own – a key skill to have!
It is just so hilarious to watch though!
We had the same scenario with Connor when he first learned to stand in his crib. Prior to this, I would put him down when he was still awake, but sleepy. Once he learned to stand it took a LONG time for him to get to sleep. I started rocking him for a few minutes to get him ‘extra sleepy’ and it helped. It only lasted about a week and then he returned to his normal routine! Good luck! :)
Nora and Jane seem like similarly good sleepers so I say phase. The learning to get down is key. You’ll probably have to go in for that for a bit. HOWEVER, even though Jane is back to normal, I can still hear her thrashing around in there for a while before bed. it’s not hours, but still. Sometimes during the night too.
I don’t have kids yet, but I have eyebrows, and Nora has GREAT ones. Perfectly arched. Its ridiculous.
GL with the sleeping, and congrats on the standing!
Heather, obvs Nora is older than my munchkins, but Reese is using her bumpers right now to pull up to her knees and I do go in and correct her.
That said, if she has energy to play like that at the end of the day, my first thought was how many naps is she taking? Maybe she’s ready to drop one?
I don’t know how much control you have over the nap situation with DC though.
What I’ve noticed in my short time parenting is that these phases are only exciting to them for a week or two and then they move on to the next thing, so maybe it’s just a question of waiting it out.