Sleep Crying

So, I've posted before about how bad Erin is about taking naps and going to bed right now because of her anxiety about being away from me. I just had to document today: I did the whole wait and let her cry... but that didn't seem to work. It started out trying to let her nap. Then the back and forth of going in and checking on her went to longer than her normal nap... then we were both a bit stubborn. It was 3 hours before I gave in and went and got her. It was so sad. I went in at the 2-5-10-15 minute increments to check on her, and had the monitor on constantly. She just kept standing up and holding on to the side of the crib to cry out. Each time I went in, I'd take her and lay her down, put a pacifier in, tell her I loved her, and variations of calming her down. But every time I started to leave the room (Even before I got out) she'd start screaming out and go to a standing position. She was sooo tired by the end of it, I just kept thinking she'd go to sleep, but she never did. I felt so bad for her. I hadn't realized how long we had been going back and forth on this until I looked up and realized what time it was! It had been three hours! I felt so bad (it was from when Patty dropped her off, I fed her thinking she'd fall asleep nursing, but she didn't so I took her out to play, but she was visibly tired, so I took her to her crib, and that's when it started about 4. It was around 7 when I went and took her out. I held her to help her fall asleep, but she just started babbling to me, so I figured she was awake in spite of herself). I figured she could eat and whatnot. I fed her some fresh applesauce (I had made it during the crying), she acted like she wanted to play a little, so we did. She was so pathetic, barely could hold herself up but she was determined to have fun. So I wasn't sure if she'd eat anything, since I'd just nursed her again, but she must have worked herself up an appetite. I decided to be a bit nice and not put her in the highchair to eat. Instead I just brought the food down to her where she had been playing. She enjoyed it, and got a bit on her face and hands, so it quickly became bathtime.
Now, Chris and I had discussed redoing her schedule a bit and doing: feeding, bathtime, and then playtime till she told us she was tired. This was because she was getting so tired at dinnertime that bathtimes were no longer enjoyable. So I was supposed to empliment this tonight, but it didn't happen because she was so tired. I didn't even put her in the bath. I ran the water and stripped her down, but just kept her on my lap where she was clinging to me for dear life. I took one of our glove washclothes and wiped her down. It was good, she didn't cry at all, but she was very tired. Mom came in and lotioned her where she was. She still seemed to be fighting going to sleep, which didn't bother me because I had already said to myself I'd let her play if she felt like it after we were done. But when I put on a new diaper she started to fall asleep. So I just rocked her a little bit and sang to her. There was little fight after that. So far it's 10:30 and she's already woken up once. She's just so tired! But its because she's so smart and curious she always wants to know what's going on (and where I am). I hope she gets a good nights sleep.
I'm not going to fight her on naps again. That was too hard for both of us, and I think I made my point to her. I'll just do what I normally do. If she's awake enough to scream she's awake enough to play (During the day only of course). Basically, if she screams when I put her to sleep for naptime and she doesn't stop I go in try once to set her down, but if she continues I take her out and we continue playing. She'll eventually give me the signal again and we try again. Sometimes I have to try three or four times, but eventually she goes without arguing.
I just felt bad about today. I just wanted to stand my ground on the thing, but I should have reminded myself that that's for bedtime and not naps.