First, I love my daughter, too. Second, lying down with her is a habit for mommy because mommy’s usually the one putting her to bed. Let daddy try saying no to his daughter night after night after night. And it doesn’t help that mommy just happens to be sleepy, too. š
My attempt… well, right now she’s screaming. She even screamed, rather angrily, “Come here, right now!” At this moment she’s crying, “Come back here!” It’s rather heart wrenching but there’s no amount of logic that will make her go to bed without me there with her. I even prayed with her. That didn’t help. I asked her what she was afraid of (she said she was scared of everything… she has been lately and that’s annoying). She also said monsters. I told her there were no monsters… offered blankets and stuffed animals. Nope. She held onto my arm with a death grip. Even assurance that we were right outside her door didn’t help. Of course I guess it’s not very reassuring to her when we promise that then let her scream for 5 minutes, huh?
So why can I do it now (let her cry it out) when I couldn’t 2 years ago? Maybe it’s because now I know she’s basically okay and her fears are illogical. As a baby, I never was sure everything was truly okay.
Ha! Daddy’s a sucker after all. He just went in to “rock her for a little bit” because he doesn’t feel she’ll cry herself to sleep. Never mind that her screams have been majorly tainted with yawns audible even downstairs. They’re talking. Things are quiet. Okay, what’s the difference between lying down with her until she (we) fall asleep and letting her fall asleep while rocking her? Again :PĆĀ š
One other thought I had during my attempt. I can remember very well yelling, screaming, and crying, “I want to rock!!!” (as in I wanted my mommy to rock me in the rocking chair… now I just think of Twisted Sister but I digress) Mom… Dad… how did you guys hear that and not give into the temptation to smack the living daylights out of me? Yeah, I know. Payback’s hell. *sigh*
Daddy rocked while the two of you listened to the Braves.
Mommy rocked and sang songs she made up, or songs she knew.
For monsters: Mommy also made a big deal out of demanding the monsters out of the room, or the one I had the most fun with, the monsters were forced under the bed, and angels were assigned to watch them so they couldn’t possibly get out. Mommy, even though she knew better, didn’t let you cry because she couldn’t stand it (Sorry) and because rocking my babies helped me relax some too (most of the time).
May not be the response you wanted, but … I love you.