First Daughter slept last night from around 8:30 pm to 7:30 am with only one time when I had to go in to comfort her (and she was asleep again in just a few minutes)!
It was the first time she went to sleep without nursing and took hardly any time at all. She cried a little, but not much. In fact, much less than I was thinking. I had been dreading this night. To be honest, I'm almost disappointed. It's hard not to think she doesn't miss it as much as I do. She did ask to nurse by signing today, though, so I know she's still thinking about it. (Speaking of signing, First Daughter obviously signed "please" a number of times today. I love that!)
It was impossible to just sit back and do nothing while First Daughter was crying so much, so last Thursday we instituted a few changes. She seemed to have an upset stomach (given that she vomited on two different nights, neither time when she'd been crying long enough to have caused it). So we thought we'd attack some likely culprits:
1. We cut back on her dairy. At first we cut it all out, but quickly added back yogurt. Two of my nieces have had trouble with dairy, and I've heard it's common, so it seemed a good place to start.
2. We eliminated strawberries. She seemed to get a little red on her face where the juice rubbed (irritation, not just fruit juice) and had eaten them both evenings she vomited...we think.
3. We've been cutting and mashing her food more. She seemed to like it in big chunks, but we thought maybe it was too much for her stomach. She's eating it just fine in smaller pieces, though she gets a little impatient now that it takes longer to get it on her tray.
It's impossible to say if these have had anything to do with her sleeping better, but it was nice to feel like we had a plan. I'm praying she sleeps well tonight, but especially this coming week while I'm away on business. I had a weekend as a single parent and didn't really enjoy it. I imagine it'll be a lot harder for Kansas Dad this coming week.
Especially since he caught Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease from First Daughter. That's right. She's better, returning to day care on Tuesday, but he caught it. All the doctors and nurses said the adults have already had it and won't get sick...but they were wrong.
