As I get closer and closer to having this baby (about 10 weeks to go) I am already dreading the loss of sleep to come. I don’t do well on less than average sleep and I absolutely hate being woken up in the middle of the night. (yeah, I don’t do well with call either…). I have been lucky that both of my children slept through the night relatively early and have pretty much continued to do so. I have friends who are not nearly so lucky.
After a 3:00 am wake up call from my 4 yr old last night (wet pajamas) I had trouble falling back to sleep and starting wondering if this new child will sleep as well as the ones I already have. Did I totally screw up my sleep schedule forever or will it be a temporary blip?
It made me remember my mother’s stories about Eric as a baby. Most of his baby stories involve him crying. In his defense he had a lot of ear infections and they are painful, but he does not sound like an easy baby to care for.
I am a big fan of letting my kids cry it out. For both of them when we got the ok from the pediatrician to let them skip that middle of the night feeding, it took 3 nights of crying it out for them to get it. The first night is horrible, the second night is a little better and the third night is pretty normal. The same 3 night schedule worked really well when it was time for my little one to stop sleeping with a pacifier. (the older one never took one to begin with)
This did not work with Eric. My mother talks about the time my father went on a business trip so she decided to let Eric cry it out and see if she could get him sleeping through the night. Four hours later he was still going strong and she just couldn’t take it anymore.
She and my dad used to take turns getting out of bed when he would cry. They kept track of how many turns they took and the record was nine. Each.
Oh boy. Here’s hoping this little man takes after his brothers and not his uncle in this oh so important way.
Well, my Ava sounds a lot like Eric. Highly sensitive to life, and in the long run, full of great attritbutes, but as a baby/child--not a great sleeper. Ava can cry for 4 hours, as well--cry it out does not work.
ReplyDeleteIf I can pass along any advice that I am now learning from the sleep specialist we are going to, children like this do well with transition objects---something Ava has never had. And pacifiers--something she never had, either. We are now doing an hour and a half ritual at bedtime, that includes lots of steps and comfort objects, etc. I think you will either have another child like your first two in terms of sleep--or can start early on with some strategies to comfort the child like Eric (or Ava)--knowing that the cry it out will not work, but other things will.
I used to think people were not "doing it right" when they said cry it out did not work for them--now I know there really are children for whom it does not work--hours, days, nights, years--of doing it and no progress over here, and we are finally really accepting that fact. You are already ahead of the game!