There were lots of things I said I would never do as a parent.
And then I became a parent.
There were still lots of things I said I would never do as a parent.
And then I became the parent of two babes in a year.
The primary example of this is Lydia and I have been sleeping together in the rocking chair. Yes, our baby sleeps with me. Once upon a time, I said my child can't get used to sleeping with me if I never let her. What I didn't think to consider was that my baby was used to sleeping with me long before I gave birth to her.
But with a getaway [from the kids] planned for May, we decided it's time to cut the umbilical cord. A little. Since I will never let my baby "cry it out", we are starting out with The No-Cry Sleep Solution approach by Elizabeth Pantley. For now, the goal is to just get Lydia taking naps outside of my arms. We will tackle nights later. Today is Day 2. Yesterday was awful. Today is going a little better.
We will see if I can hold to my sentiment against "cry it out" methods. I sure hope so.
Lydia at 6 weeks old
Nadia took all her naps on me for quite awhile. I tried CIO briefly when she was about 8 weeks old but quickly abandoned it although I have used it some since (starting when she was maybe 4 months old and I didn't let her cry more than 20 minutes most of the time so I never really did the full CIO method). Hope the nap transition gets better and better as the week goes. I also have to say I just LOVE the first photo of her. What a great shot of a beautiful baby!!
ReplyDeleteYou have no idea how amazing your timing on this post is. I am back to having horrible issues with Delaney's sleep again (as in wakes up at night but won't go back to sleep for hours - three times now in a week). I am SO against "cry it out" but at times like this I really struggle. I've got to think there is a better way and you've helped remind me how strongly I feel about it... Good luck with Lydia! That's my biggest regret so far - that I didn't work seriously on the sleep stuff earlier on, I think it's simply compounded our problems at this point. I think the Pantley book is a great one - I think I need to figure out where my copy is and re-read it!
ReplyDeleteOh yes, we have had this discussion many times. I said the same thing. I will never.... Our son was three before he was sleeping in his own bed throughout the night. Now, Lily is two and she's still in our bed. Now, to make it worse, she's been sick for about a month -- stomach bug, then bronchitis, etc. So now she not only wants to be in our bed, she wants for me to hold her all night. We're working on it, but she's not falling for it. I asked, "Will you sleep in your bed?" She says, "Maybe not. I sleep in your bed." It is amazing how quickly they learn to like something, but its not so quick to undo. But to think -- they grow up so quickly. This will pass. We just don't get much sleep in the process. Your children are beutiful. Lydia was born on my sons birthday. Brett is so cute. How is he adjusting to being big brother?
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
Gayla
Joy-
ReplyDeleteNot sure if you will see this but I thought I would let you know that in our quest for good sleeping habits we purchased an Amby bed (like a baby hammock) if you want to give that a try you are more than welcome just let me know... you can look up more about it on line under amby bed
Shannon