What?!

That was what I was thinking last night at 7:00 pm when we put Rhea to bed and she screamed/cried for an hour before finally falling asleep! It was honestly the hardest time I have ever had putting her to bed and I have no idea what the problem was. We started her nighttime routine as usual around 6:00 pm and she was bathed and in her pajamas by 6:45ish. After her last bottle of the day, she started rubbing her eyes and showing that she was tired, so I brought her up and put her in the her crib.

Then, all hell broke loose. I left as I usually do after saying goodnight and heard Rhea start fussing. We have a 2 minute rule where we let her fuss for 2 minutes before responding and 99% of the time, she comforts herself in half that time. But last night, her fussing turned to screaming! So, I went in and comforted her. Then, after a few minutes tried to leave again. This went on for a while. She would be fine when I was in the room and then she would cry as soon as I went to leave.

So, after a while, I realized, "OK, my daughter needs me tonight. I'll stay with her until she falls asleep." But this didn't work either because I was distracting her from falling asleep. She would just be starting to close her eyes and then would open them to make sure I was there. At one point, she felt my engagement ring and started playing with the diamond! So, after sitting with her for 20 minutes or so, I left again and this time I heard her cry, but no screaming. And after a couple of minutes she finally fell asleep...

Until 3:00 am when she woke up and started crying. Again, I tried to see if she would comfort herself and she didn't. Then, when I went in, my rubbing her back or holding her hand wasn't enough - she wanted to be held! So, finally at 3:30 am, I carried my very tired and clingy baby to the couch and after a little snuggling we both fell asleep.

I have to say, I'm a little worried about this...she has never reacted like that to going to sleep. I know things change all the time, but I keep wondering if maybe her belly hurt or a new tooth is bothering her. But, the fact that she was OK when I was in her room makes me wonder if it is something else. Is this the after-effect of changing her schedule on Friday? Or could this be the beginning of the separation anxiety everyone warned me about? Rhea did cry this morning when I dropped her off at Rachelle's, which she doesn't normally do, so maybe she just doesn't want to be away from us right now. Whatever it is, hopefully, it won't be an issue for long.