All too easy?

Knock on wood, ptuh ptuh ptuh, but we didn’t have to resort to the put-down-pick-up thing tonight. 20 minutes in a dark room with static on the radio and Abby was asleep with nary a tear shed.

I failed to mention the other advice the Baby Whisperer gives. Before resorting to PDPU, you’re are supposed to try everything else. Including something she calls shush-pat.

You see, I thought Abby was too old for shushpatting (sounds like some Norwegian sport, no? “He was a champion shushpatter. Almost went to the Olde Country Games.”) and she kind of despised shushpatting when she wasn’t too old for it, back in the day.

Tonight, she woke from her nap at 7:15 and had a big meal of sweet potatoes, pears and rice cereal. She was whisked right into the tub. After a bath, she got a good rubdown with moisturizer and plopped into a clean diaper and PJs. She listened to a book read by Abba while sitting in Mama’s lap (“Clifford Takes a Trip” – it’s a real thriller). After that, she had a bit more to eat and I took her into her room where the lights were off. We cuddled for a few minutes in the glider rocker and sang a song (“Baby Beluga”). From there, I explained that she was going to go to bed like a big girl (which is only a little bit BS) and settled her into her crib.

She responded as only a Brown can – with flailing limbs aplenty. But she never cried. I let her flail for a few minutes and then leaned into the crib while sitting on a chair next to it. I patted her tummy (think the pace of a clock – tick-tock) and made a weird shushing sound (not to be confused with a schussing sound, which is indeed the result of a Nordic sport).

It took about 20 minutes, but she actually fell asleep. Lest this not impress you, this is the first time our daughter has ever fallen asleep (at home at least) in anything other than our arms. It is a huge accomplishment. That was at 9 p.m. and we haven’t heard a peep since.

To be sure, this means a modification in our plans. We’re on a two-week plan to change the following aspects of Abby’s sleep:

• Eliminate night feedings – Abby will get a dreamfeed every night at midnight, but from there we expect her to sleep through the night.
• Get her on a normal sleep schedule – Right now, she’s content to go to sleep at 10 p.m., which really isn’t a problem. But it means leaving the house before noon the next day is a challenge since she does sleep almost 12 hours. And it simply does not fly if I go back to work and she goes to daycare. We’re going to shoot for in bed by 8:30, asleep by 9 p.m. and up the next morning at 8 a.m. with two good two-hour naps everyday and a catnap before her bath.
• Wean her off the pacifier – She’s old enough to find her hands with some regularity. It’s our hope to slowly eliminate the pacifier (the smart money says this will be the biggest challenge).
• Get her to fall asleep in her own bed at naps and nighttime – She already sleeps in her bed all the time, but we’d like her to fall asleep there instead of on us for a multitude of reasons. Tonight was a huge step in that direction.
• Get her to fall asleep without the shushpatting – The next step toward her falling asleep on her own is to get her to fall asleep with one of us in the room, but not touching her.
• And finally… To get her to fall asleep on her own in her crib all by her big girl self – It seems insurmountable right now, but we’re hoping we can pull it off in two weeks.

It promises to be a wild ride.