Whew!

Since last July, when we transferred Franny to her crib, we have been on a continuous roller coaster of various sleep issues and challenges. After months of sleepless nights, February brought us relief with the beginnings of Franny sleeping uninterrupted all night. But then, in April we were again set back by her intense separation anxiety, which manifested in her crying unconsolably at bedtime. Then, last week began a long string of difficulty going to sleep--nap and bedtimes could take up to an hour and a half before she would finally be asleep. To minimize her separation anxiety we had been staying in her room until she fell asleep, gradually working our way closer to the door. To say the least, this last week and a half had stretched our patience to the absolute limit!

At her naptime yesterday, after an hour, my patience finally abandoned me--I couldn't take it anymore and just left the room. She cried for about ten minutes before falling asleep. I was amazed--it was the first time since March that I have been able to leave the room without her escalating into full hysterics. And then today, after our bedtime rituals, I laid her down, said "have a good sleep" and walked out the door. This was unprecedented! And there was no crying, just a lot of talking--for an hour and fifteen minutes! But she finally fell asleep, and is now napping. Great job, Franny!