That's what I feel like whenever I have to put him down to sleep. It's so hard listening to Dylan cry. As I write this, he is sobbing protests from his crib. He is exhausted, and this is the only way to get him to go down. I just have to let him cry himself to sleep. This is actually the second attempt this afternoon. The first attempt led to nuclear meltdown. And this morning, I just let him nap in the swing so I could eat breakfast. This time he went down with crying, but not screaming. I can hear the sobs winding down into softer, pathetic legato laments; the breaks in between getting longer and longer.
I think he just went to sleep.
Dylan turned six months yesterday. He's big enough that a little sleep training is a good thing (I tell myself). He's in his own crib in the next room now instead of co-sleeping in our room. I love the idea of co-sleeping long-term, but no one in the family was happy on 90 minute stretches of sleep. When he went in the nursery, we stopped waking each other up.
Nope, he's awake again. I'm not going in there. He'll go back to sleep. Hopefully.
Ok, he's sleeping again. I'm being more of a hardass today than I am other days. He has a doctor's appointment at 4pm, so I'm adamant that he try to nap for a couple hours now. And that's the second thing that will make me the World's Meanest Mommy: I think he might be getting a shot today. We're on a delayed innocculation schedule, because our pediatrician is a naturopath and she and I are on the same page about giving shots as they are needed, not all at once when you're only 2 months old. If he's not getting one today, that day is coming soon.
I am currently listening to the saddest crying ever. If translated, it would say "Why, oh why, have you forsaken me? I am the saddest baby in the history of the world..." What a drama queen. But he's not panicked, so I'm just going to let it go on. I'm going to drink iced herbal tea and eat a peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwich, and listen to relaxing music, and maybe even go hang out in the garden, and try not to feel like the World's Meanest Mommy.
Oh, thank god, I think he's actually asleep. I need a nap.
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Since you are now trying a little sleep training, have you taken a look at Ferber's "Solve your child's sleep problems"? It sounds like you are trying an extinction method. Going with a check-and-console method might make you feel a little less like the world's meanest mommy (which are you not).
ReplyDeleteSorry it's been rough. I hope he gets to sleeping better soon. :) You are a great mommy!
ReplyDeleteWe actually are doing check and console. It's just waiting in between the checks that is hard sometimes. I don't believe in letting him scream it out -- that's messed up. But sometimes as he's going to sleep, and the crying is winding down, it just takes a while.
ReplyDeleteThe book that everyone around here, including my pediatrician recommends is "Healthy sleep habits, happy child." I may check that out.
Healthy sleep habits, happy child book does extinction. I overall wasn't a big fan of it but it did help us figure out how to get Linus to give up the 5 am feeding. I didn't think the charts were as easy to understand as some of the other books. Needless to say, I read a lot of sleep books last year. I just loaned my copy of healthy sleep habits to Colleen.
ReplyDeleteHe won't be marred from crying a bit and you are being firm now so that everyone will benefit in the end. We rocked Christopher to sleep every day until we had to stop abruptly at 6 months during a visit to his Grandma Casterline. No rocking chair. That made a fun visit! But it made me realize the importance of letting babies learn to fall asleep on their own.
ReplyDeleteAs you and I chatted about the other day, the cry-it-out method did us no favors in the middle of the night, but they really do eventually figure out that they don't need you to pop the tit in their mouth every time they wake up. It doesn't make us mean if we have to be the grown-ups and help them learn this. We're being good parents when we guide them to soothe themselves into restorative sleep.
ReplyDeleteNot all of life's lessons are easy! Wouldn't life be a bore if they were.