At about 5 months, Robinson and I felt it was time for Arthur to begin the arduous process of self-soothing. He already accepted and loved his pacifier, which helped greatly, but we did the research, started a bedtime routine (that surprisingly hasn't changed much to this day), and then left him in his crib.
I remember crying because my baby was crying. Robinson became the "Almighty Soother" and went in at various intervals to calm Arthur. After a few days, he got it and we haven't had much of a problem keeping him asleep. Sometimes getting him to bed is another matter...
Fast forward three years. I wanted to wait until Balin was 5 months old to start sleep training, but at 4 months, it's now time for Balin to learn how to self-soothe. He's slept with Robinson and I since birth and neither one of us can sleep with him thrashing in between us. The transition from our bed to his bassinet hasn't gone well. Every time we put him inside it he wakes up immediately or wakes up an hour later. (The fact that he's been waking up every two hours to nurse himself to sleep hasn't helped either. I'm not a human pacifier, kid!)
We talked about it and decided it was time for him to just cry it out.
I am an advocate for crying it out when it is done properly. I have never let either of my children cry and cry and never check on them until they vomit. To be honest, that turns my stomach. It's hard enough to hear my kid cry for comfort (although I usually spend some time outside and make Robinson soothe the baby while we're going through this process), but to let them just cry without soothing them seems so wrong.
The first night was simply awful. It took Balin about an hour and a half to fall asleep and then he woke up every couple of hours screaming. It finally ended at 6am when I heard him up. I was terrified about tonight because Robinson had a school board meeting and I didn't know if I could handle hearing his cries.
The boys took baths. I got Balin into his pajamas, read him a story, nursed him, sung him some songs, kissed him goodnight, then left, just waiting for the screaming to begin.
To my bewilderment, there was a five minute period of fussing and then...nothing. Balin had fallen asleep on his own, without help.
Of course, he woke up screaming an hour and a half later, but put himself back to sleep within 5 minutes of waking. So, so far, so good.
This could be the beginning of something beautiful. A decent night's sleep.
Blessed be.
I remember crying because my baby was crying. Robinson became the "Almighty Soother" and went in at various intervals to calm Arthur. After a few days, he got it and we haven't had much of a problem keeping him asleep. Sometimes getting him to bed is another matter...
Fast forward three years. I wanted to wait until Balin was 5 months old to start sleep training, but at 4 months, it's now time for Balin to learn how to self-soothe. He's slept with Robinson and I since birth and neither one of us can sleep with him thrashing in between us. The transition from our bed to his bassinet hasn't gone well. Every time we put him inside it he wakes up immediately or wakes up an hour later. (The fact that he's been waking up every two hours to nurse himself to sleep hasn't helped either. I'm not a human pacifier, kid!)
We talked about it and decided it was time for him to just cry it out.
I am an advocate for crying it out when it is done properly. I have never let either of my children cry and cry and never check on them until they vomit. To be honest, that turns my stomach. It's hard enough to hear my kid cry for comfort (although I usually spend some time outside and make Robinson soothe the baby while we're going through this process), but to let them just cry without soothing them seems so wrong.
The first night was simply awful. It took Balin about an hour and a half to fall asleep and then he woke up every couple of hours screaming. It finally ended at 6am when I heard him up. I was terrified about tonight because Robinson had a school board meeting and I didn't know if I could handle hearing his cries.
The boys took baths. I got Balin into his pajamas, read him a story, nursed him, sung him some songs, kissed him goodnight, then left, just waiting for the screaming to begin.
To my bewilderment, there was a five minute period of fussing and then...nothing. Balin had fallen asleep on his own, without help.
Of course, he woke up screaming an hour and a half later, but put himself back to sleep within 5 minutes of waking. So, so far, so good.
This could be the beginning of something beautiful. A decent night's sleep.
Blessed be.
