Well, I think it is just a phase we are going to have to work through. Tonight, I thought things were going to be easy because Emma was actually taking a her last nap of the day. I figured that she would probably sleep long enough for me to have some 1 on 1 time with Abby and get Abby to bed.
Well, not my luck. Abby woke her up after the 4th round of screaming because she wasn't getting her way. So, I got Emma up, fed her (all the while with Abby climbing all over me), read to her and put her back to bed. Emma was quiet long enough for me to play with Abby a bit and then get her up to her bedroom without too much of a fuss. Emma started screaming, so I had to leave, but I told Abby if she could quietly read for a few minutes in her crib I would come back up and read her the last story (that we hadn't been able to finish). I accomplished this without a problem. A few minutes after I left is when the whining started. I finally went upstairs as she was screaming for her blanket. I helped her fix her blanket and left to attend to Emma who was again screaming. In the meantime, Abby started to scream and continued for a few minutes. Unfortunately, I could not get to her as I was attending to Emma. She is now quiet and appears to be asleep.
My DH and I have talked about it a lot. I think that we are just going to have to continue trying to give her enough wind down time, keep her routine consistent and just be no nonsense and firm if we have to go upstairs. Typically, I try not to let her engage me in conversation, I just tell her it is time for sleep. I hope that eventually if she is not getting the reaction that she wants that things will go back to normal. I have been rambling again haven't I? Well thanks for listening.
Well it is 7:40ish and they both appear to be asleep, quiet anyway, so not such a bad night after all.
