The mess we've gotten into

If I could do it all again, I would read Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child from cover to cover while I was still pregnant. I am blessed since Mini-Me settled very quickly into a totally acceptable sleeping pattern at night: 4-6 hours of sleep, a round of nursing and rocking that lasted anywhere from ten minutes to one hour, then another 4-6 hours of sleep. Naps have been haphazard, which has been the growing problem for the last month or two. The swing, which was always my failsafe, has even stopped working, and now I'm feeling totally stuck, exhausted, guilty for not doing better, and resentful because Mini-Me takes, at best, ineffective naps most of the time now. It seems like a two hour nap is a matter of luck over anything else.

So, I've been flipping through the book and so far a few points have stuck out:
* the book has given me the courage to let Mini-Me cry for longer periods of time (we had a disastrous experiment with "cry-it-out" a few months ago and I've been hesitant to take the hard line on this since then.)
* we will all be happier and healthier if we establish a structure of naptimes, all happier and healthier except me, who feels resentful that my schedule will be slave to Mini-Me's naptimes
* according to the author, daytime and nighttime sleep are different parts of the brain, so whipping naptimes into shape does not mean that I have to ditch the nighttime routine, which has almost always worked very well.

So my project for the week: schedule around naptimes for a whole week, let Mini-Me cry (for up to an hour if she goes that long), spend the time in my stained glass studio without the monitor turned on, so I can't hear her. Look forward to getting a shower every day.

Since Mini-Me normally naps (or, used to nap) in her swing, I'll keep her in the swing this week - we are visiting friends in a few weeks, and she will probably sleep in a swing there full-time. Will transition her to the crib when we get back.

All this concern about sleep training while dealing with a fussy baby has made me cranky and sad.