I agree with Debra, maybe try putting her down sooner to prevent being overtired. My son who is 16 weeks is very spirited and we just took the pacifier away less than a week ago. He was VERY dependant on it and surprisingly, is doing pretty good, after a few awful nights and days. Over the past two nights, he's calmed down on his own quite a bit, but for a spirited child, I consider calm to be when he's not kicking and flailing his arms and legs all over the place. He still arches his back and twists as soon as I put him down. He doesn't really let me get him too calm beforehand. This has been the routine: I turn on the same lullaby CD, close his shade and sit with him in the glider in his room. This lasts all of about 2 minutes before he starts fussing vocally. It's like he knows whats coming and is saying, "All right, let's not drag this out, let's just get it over with, ok?" tee he he. So, I don't waste any time, as soon as he lets out his first fuss, I bring him to the bed and put him down. I turn down the music to almost inaudible and like clockwork, he arches and starts talking very seriously to his bumper above his head. He will then start to cry, so I do p/u-p/d and it seems to be that 4 of these is the magic number. After the 4th p/u-p/d, he just lays there with his eyes open looking at the bumper, but finally calmly, and I sh-sh-pat him to sleep. I do this with my whole body very close to him (one arm over the length of his body and the other in front of him, holding his hands). I then keep one hand on him for about 2 more minutes and stand by his crib through the whole ten minute cycle so I can calm him through the jolts. Once his breathing is calm, I can leave. I also visit him at each REM sleep cycle, because he's been waking during naps. If I catch him before the big jolt, he stays asleep. I imagine over time he will get better at doing things himself, but we just took his pacifier away less than a week ago, we stopped feeding him in the middle of the night, and we started a DF, all at the same time. I would say this is pretty good considering how my second and third days/nights went. He's really doing great. So maybe your lo just needs something consistent, with a little more help from you for a while. I am slowly decreasing the length of time I pat him and it's working. He's even waking up playing and cooing in his bed in the mornings. I have been able to leave him in there for a good 20+ minutes before I have to go to him. This has NEVER happened before now. He's becoming more confident on his own and I think it's because we consistently do the p/u-p/d and sh-sh-pat until he's out. I wish you luck, this is a tough time.
Jessica
