Saturday, December
15, 2012
For a long time I thought that I wouldn’t need to do sleep
training. I thought that Maddie
would eventually regulate herself into her own sleep pattern and I would be
able to set her in her crib with no problem, walk out of the room while telling
her to take a nap and that would be the end of it. Well, things have gradually gotten better over the past few
months, but I reached a point where I was sick of sitting in the rocking chair
for hours and hours everyday waiting for her to drift off to sleep. Most of the time I would be able to lay
her in her crib after she drifted off, but there were plenty of other times
when I would spend a half an hour rocking her only for her to wake back up upon
hitting the mattress.
So many people recommend the “cry it out” approach, but I
just don’t feel comfortable doing it.
My natural instinct is to run to my baby as soon as she makes a peep and
I couldn’t imagine letting her lay in her crib crying for any extended period
of time. So, I looked into some other methods and found one that I have been
trying for the past 3 days.
Day one: This day was really rough. Basically, they tell you to put the
baby down in her crib while drowsy and pull up a chair. The parent sits next to the baby and
verbally and physically tries to comfort the baby through patting, rubbing,
hushing, singing…etc. The goal is to avoid picking the baby up out of the
crib. If she becomes inconsolable,
though, you pick her up, rock her and calm her down, then start over
again. So, day one was rough. I literally sat next to Maddie for hours
trying to calm her down enough to go to sleep. My lips were chapped and cracking from all of the shushing
and I was warn out. I almost fell asleep at one point while rubbing her
chest. I was so frustrated at the
end of the day but not willing to give up. I decided that I was willing to
torture myself for 2 weeks if it meant that I would be able to put Maddie down
without any assistance thereafter.
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| Maddie is growing so quickly all of the sudden! Here, she is sporting one of her size 3-6 month outfits for the first time (and her pretty headband!). Oh my goodness, I just love her so much! |
Day two: Much better! I did the same thing as day one and
for Maddie’s first nap, she went to sleep without so much as a whimper. She got a little fussier throughout the
day, but I barely had to lift her to calm her at all. I feel like she’s getting the hang of it.
Day three: That brings us to today. I have put Maddie down
twice today and both times were
very successful. I had to do very little touching or hushing. I, for the most
part, just sat next to her and put her pacifier back in her mouth when needed. I am so excited!
So, tomorrow begins the next step. I am not supposed to
touch Maddie at all, but only try to soothe her verbally. I do that for three days, then I am
supposed to gradually move the chair further and further from the crib until I
am out the door. After a couple of
weeks, I am hoping to be able to set Mads down and walk out of the room
completely. We shall see! So far,
so good!
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| Oh, and PS: we have decided to try out making our own baby food. We couldn't believe the difference in color between the fresh peas and the jarred ones we bought earlier this week. So far, Maddie is loving bananas, pears and peas. We are going to add carrot to her diet later this week. |
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