Seth is now 6 months old and has started waking up A LOT at night. I would say 4 times on average. It's killing me! I need some continuous sleep. Plus, I have other kids that wake up for various reasons every once and a while and when these all happen on the same night, it's just TOO MUCH! I have been seeing every hour of the night recently. Ugh.
So, after one of these nights, I decided it was time to train this kid to sleep. This is not new to us. I remember going crazy when Levi was this age, reading Becoming Babywise, and deciding to let him cry it out. George and I set a timer for 45 minutes and George had to restrain me so I wouldn't go up to the baby. As soon as the timer went off, I ran upstairs and was almost to the door when....SILENCE! I checked on him and he was sound asleep. It only took a couple of days to get this pattern down and I was converted! We did it with Natalie and Sam (though a little later in his life because we were getting ready to move when he was 6 months).
Before anyone roasts me for letting my kids cry, I must say that my older kids are GOOD sleepers. They go to bed around 8pm, wake up around 8am, and don't usually get up at night. They are good at sleeping anywhere. And they are happy, well-adjusted children (if I do say so myself:) So, I know this method works for us. Which is why it was Seth's turn last night.
I had fed him around 7:30pm and didn't want to nurse him to sleep, so around 8:30, George took him up and put him to bed. He was quiet for about 5 minutes and then began to cry. I knew that he was not hungry or wet (as we had just taken care of that) so we set the timer. And I left the house! This was emotionally hard for me...as it has been for each one. I went and watched a movie. I got back and the 45 minutes were almost up and the monitor was still RED! George and I decided to lengthen the time a bit and he got quiet within 10 minutes. And that was it. He made a couple of noises, but went right back to sleep after each. *I* got up at 7:15 because I had had plenty of sleep and my brain was racing. This is *not* me in the morning. I am SOOO excited. It's liberating! And now, at 8am, he is making happy awake noises in his crib.
So on we go to not nursing him to sleep (that's today's job) and more sleeping at night (hopefully tonight will be as good as last!) Gotta go feed the boy...to relieve the one not so nice side affect of him sleeping through the night! Ouch!
7 comments:
Hey Anna, congratulations on the first night! We too let our kids cry it out and they too are good sleepers. There really is something to letting them learn to comfort themselves and learn to calm themselves. It's hard I know, but good job for be strong enough to do it.
Miranda (used to be Cook from Muncie 2nd) Marrott
I would have loved to let Kenny cry himself to sleep. But being at my parents house that couldn't happen. But it all worked out in the end. I'm glad you feel good about this.
Yea!!! So glad it worked. I hope this continues for the next few nights and it works great.
Congrats on a full night of sleep!
I didn't know you just had baby #4! You've just passed me by. Look at you, all mom of 4 little ones!
It's hard to hear your baby cry, I remember that. But thankfully it doesn't last that long after the first night.
I would let my babies cry too, but I would go in every 15 minutes, sooth them (NOT PICK THEM UP), just talk gently and rub their tummies. Just so they would feel like they weren't abandoned. Every family has their own way of doing things and no one way is right or wrong.
I've finally posted on my blog. Just wanted to let you know! Love,Dana (Jones)
I'm glad that it seemed to work, I hope that it continues to. We always made the cut-off at 6 months with our kids too.
Will just now started sleeping through the night (13 months). I've never been able to make my kids cry it out, but I pay for it in other ways. Congrats!
I am all for letting kids cry it out. They have to learn to self sooth, but it seems like it gets harder with each kid, why is that? Way to go Anna!
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