Operation: Peaceful Bedtime

Charlotte does not sleep through the night anymore. She used to go at least 5 hours, but my suspicion is that when I thought she was teething, I babied her into a clingy, needy, wake-up-every-two-hours child. So lately, she's been sleeping in our bed instead of her own...which she seems to have almost a phobia of at this point. A friend of mine suggested redecorating the crib area so she doesn't recognize it. I feel that might work if she were a much less clever baby. So here is our current plan of action:

1) Try to ignore the pitiful cries and face she makes when we leave the room. (This may involve tactics such as closing the door, and temporarily ceasing to have a compassionate human heart).

2) For 3 nights (Thurs, Fri, and Sat) we will put her back in her crib instead of in our bed. She will fight. We must be strong. My husband must work to convince me that cuddling all night is not part of our operation.

3) Based on the outcome (successful sleeping or excessive weeping) we will do one of two things: One would be to rejoice in our victory and long lasting sleep and a lot more space in our bed- and mourn the fact that I won't get to cuddle my baby every night anymore. The other would be to fall back and regroup...let her sleep with us occasionally to wean her off the co-sleeping less painfully- and secretly to enjoy the fact that I can cuddle with my silly baby awhile longer.

4) If all else fails, we'll give her crib a complete make-over as suggested. It will not work- which means we are desperate.