Tonight's timeline:

[judecorp]

5:45 - Feed kid dinner
6:15 - Clean up dinner while kid plays Potato Head
6:30 - Kid picks up toys
6:35 - Kid gets in bath tub
6:50 - Kid gets out of bath tub (water was cold)
6:55 - Kid is pajamaed, toothbrushed, and bedtime storied
6:56 - Kid gets hug in rocking chair
7:01 - Kid gets one-minute warning of impending hug end
7:02 - Kid gets placed in crib, covered in blanket, and gets to hold hand
7:05 - Mama says bye-bye, kid says bye, Mama takes hand back and leaves
7:15 - No more sounds come out of baby monitor

HOLY MOLY, PEOPLE, MY LIFE EFFING RULES RIGHT NOW.

(Of course, we're going away this weekend and sleep will go to crap, but hello! Awesome!)

Comments

[ladygreyy.livejournal.com]

Awwww! Go big girl!

[bekklesmama.livejournal.com]

please tell me your secret. we are having serious sleep issues here. what you described sounds like pure bliss!

[sassywoman.livejournal.com]

That is fantastic! If you can keep that routine going I bet she'll continue to do great with going to sleep on her own.

[yip95.livejournal.com]

wow! that's even easier than our routine! rock on, Punk!

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Another mama friend of mine asked me the "secret" and I don't really have one. Basically, she has always been tough in the sleep department but now that she is a lot more verbal I am able to reason with her and let her know that this is what is happening. So far, that seems to be working.

But honestly, I don't think it would have worked at all if she hadn't been falling asleep on her own at day care for the last 5 months or so... and I have NO idea how that happened except maybe peer pressure?

Take all of my sleep stuff with a grain of salt, though - she still gets up around midnight and I go get her and bring her to bed with me, where she kicks me and rolls on me until she wakes up way too early in the morning demanding toys. ("BOOKS! BOOKS, PLEASE! BOOKS! TEE HEAD!")

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I'm not going to lie - I am waiting for lightning to strike tonight.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I hope so. She sleeps on her own just fine at day care. I don't mind her getting up in the night and wanting to come to bed with me, but the time it was taking to get her to sleep at night was getting longer and longer (meaning the nighttime chore time was getting shorter and shorter)... which I took to mean that she was telling us that rocking her to sleep was no longer working for her.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Scary!!

[theshapeshifter.livejournal.com]

Can Punk come over and give Duncan lessons? But seriously, that rocks hardcore that you're getting more of a break now. :D

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I thought of you when I wrote this. Look! It can happen! No sleep training involved!

(I just used my kid's smarts against her. Heh.) I still get up in the middle of the night and bring her to bed, though.

[theshapeshifter.livejournal.com]

We're actually seeing some progress, too - we started experimenting with Anthony going in to settle him instead of me, and much to my surprise, it's working! Once Duncan realizes there's no milk on tap, he just rolls over and goes back to sleep. Mind you, right now this is only between 8 and 10pm, but even having two hours where I'm not "on call" is pretty great.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Awesome! Duncan's super smart, too. I'm sure you can just reason with him. :) (As if you can reason with a toddler.)