Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Little Bunny FuFu...

So, when I was little (and still to this day) I have a security blanket.  I don't carry it around with me anymore but when I use it it sure is great!  In fact I wrapped Anna up in it in the Hospital.  It has held up quite nicely.  I am sure my mother didn't train me to get attached to the blanket, I know it just happened.  Well, for Anna, its a little bit of a different story.

Someone gave us an adorable pink bunny that has a small blanket attached.  They actually make these things to become Lovey's or security animal/blankets!  Anyway, Anna has grown quite accustomed to falling asleep while nursing, which I think is just fine by the way.  She knows how to fall asleep well in her pram, the carseat, and while nursing.  So this week I started to teach her how to go to sleep without nursing.  It started yesterday at nap time (2nd nap, nap time happens often at our house).  I stayed with her while she cried herself to sleep, just a sleepy cry nothing too distressing (we are not into the Ferber method, It just doesn't match our parenting style) plus, I was with her the whole time.  Our goal is to teach her that sleep is a peaceful and restful time, not a scary thing that separates her from her parents.   Anyway, it took her a half hour to fall asleep without nursing.  So then I wondered how long it would take her to learn this new skill.  Well that night, while I was nursing her to sleep, I had the idea of giving her this toy to hold while nursing.  Well, she loved it.  She took her evening nap holding it, and fell asleep for the night holding onto it.  I even caught her sucking her thumb and putting herself back to sleep with it at one point.  So, today (nap 1) I tried to channel this sleep association to putting herself to sleep without nursing and tada...she was asleep in 10 minutes, with minimal crying!  I am not going to let her use her Bunny (who BTW is not named FuFu, but it just reminded me of the song, so far her name is Bunny) outside of falling asleep.  She can have other daytime toys for outings etc.  This way, washing the little gal won't be too tough, I will just do it while she is awake!

6 comments:

  1. Aw such a sweet story. Bless her heart. I wish I could hold her right now. What a true blessing she must be. I miss you guys so much. Sounds like mama is really tuned in to Anna. I bet your mom is remembering those "security blanket" moments you had reading this entry. It must tug at her heartstings. We sure will miss you at Thanksgiving but you will be in our hearts and in our prayers. Love and hugs!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yeah for Anna. Luke loves to sleep with one of my silky undershirts. You may decide to let her have the bunny outside of bed in the future. Some toddlers will soothe themselves from crying or tantrums if they have a transitional item. One hint, if she really gets attached to it, buy another one...just in case.

    What is the method that you are using? I have always noticed my kids cry more when I am in the room. But maybe it is because she is still so small. And, please be aware that letting your kid cry for 5 minutes and going in patting them and telling them to go to sleep and that you love them(the Ferber method) is NOT teaching them that sleep is a scary time to be away from m & d.)

    What is a pram?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well you are a natural mom. Everyone is looking forward to meeting her at Christmas. I will be happy to see her agian. It looks like the Mudgett method or baby raising is working great. Hmmm no new pictures. Oh well only a few weeks and we will be able to see Anna in real time.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I was wondering what a pram is too. We have sleeping friends for Evi as well--a soft stuffed dog and cat. She usually doesn't have them during the day, but she sure does love to sleep with them. She hasn't really taken to anything else in terms of security, and doesn't require them at night, but in my mind they are her nighttime comfort, so she gets them! Sounds like Anna is bringing you a lot of joy! It's always hard to hear them cry, but it's so nice when they fall asleep on their own!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Pram = Perambulator (a baby carriage) - a term mostly used in Europe and Austrailia. The Howell's used to have one, that I borrowed when you were a baby. I don't recall seeing any in the stores for the last 25 years. A little on the bulky side, and I'm quite sure not something that would easily fold up to be loaded in one's car. But it was great for babies, as it could be used by an infant for a much longer time period. If I recall, you could remove the "bed" of the carriage to transport the baby from the carriage to the house. Kim, do they still use them in England?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Brad was attached to his stuffed piglet, Noah and Zack both had blankies, and we're taking all the lessons we've learned on the first three and applying them to Darcey. Here's the one piece of unsolicited advice that I'm going to offer - if that's the thing she's going to attach to, buy another one while you still can find it. Just in case. Even with the best intentions, it was so easy for us to bring the blankie (or piglet) out of the crib, and heaven forbid if we lost it somewhere!

    With Darcey, I'm trying to be even more proactive -I'm rotating blankies so hopefully she won't get attached to just one, but I can substitute whichever blankie happens to be handy. So far it's working beautifully.

    If you ever need a sleep book, I love Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and also Good Night, Sleep Tight which are both very gentle methods.

    Okay, that's it for unsolicited advice. Sorry about that, I'll try to keep a lid on it in the future! :)

    ReplyDelete