So my last post was a bit of a downer and for good reason...my baby was crying and it was making me miserable. Well, that lasted all of 3 nights (don't get me wrong, they were 3 miserable nights).
Last week Nicolette magically started going to bed with no tears. Now, I lay my sweet baby down and she doesn't start crying as I approach the crib or wiggle and roll onto all fours as soon as I set her down or pop up to standing and reach out and cry. Instead, my sweet girl stays on her back and looks at me as I snuggle her little blankie around her. As I tuck her in she smiles at me and I get to stroke her sweet face say good night and tell her how much I love her and how I'll be right here when she wakes up.
For those of you who have never struggled through bedtimes with little ones you will never fully understand the sweet relief that this brings to me. I feel like a new person and my night time anxiety is so much better. I do not believe that Crying it Out was what solved our problems. I 100% believe that Nicolette's bedtime anxiety and former night wakings were due to her developmental milestones. Once Nicolette became a pro at crawling and standing that the night wakings nearly stopped but we still struggled with going to bed. Now that Nicolette has pretty much mastered walking, the fight to go night-night has seemingly ended. I believe that her little brain has just been working overtime at night trying to figure this mobility thing out and now that she's moved from walking to running (yes, she started trying to run this week, not well but she's trying) she figures that there probably isn't too much more to worry about so this sleeping thing might not be so bad.
Regardless of what the cause was I'm so happy to be where we are now. I don't dread bedtime anymore and don't have the horrible anxiety before, during and after bedtime that I used to have. We're all sleeping better and are still blessed beyond belief!
Showing posts with label CIO. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CIO. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Sunday, July 14, 2013
I'm a little sad...
Those who know me know that I was emphatic about not letting Nicolette CIO (Cry it Out) to fall asleep. For the first 6 months of her life we enjoyed a beautiful co-sleeping relationship and she never once cried as she fell asleep in my arms. I will never regret that time and am convinced that it helped to maintain our breastfeeding relationship.
When Nicolette was around 6 1/2 to 7 months old it became obvious that it was time to move to the crib. She was starting to wiggle and toss and turn more and more during the night and was waking up (I think) because she was uncomfortable and unable to move freely while snuggled in my arms. For 2 1/2 months we STRUGGLED to transition to the crib through chronic and incessant night wakings. Finally at around 9 months old, Nicolette seemed to have gotten the hang of sleeping in her crib. I was able to rock her until drowsy and put her in the crib. She'd fuss a little but I could rub her back or even lay down on the floor next to her and hold her hand and she'd settle down and fall asleep with little drama.
Around 11 months old she suddenly stopped letting me put her down. We'd nurse and rock and she'd get drowsy but start squirming, fussing and eventually crying. If I continued to hold her and rock her she'd work up into a full blown cry. I' put her in the crib and immediate crying, popping up to all fours or standing. I try patting her back, rubbing her, laying her back down, laying down on the floor next to the crib...no matter what I do, the crying just escalates and escalates. Pick her back up and rock her, more wiggling, squirming and crying.
Against everything that my gut tells me, I lay her in her crib, kiss her and tell her that I love her and that it's time to go night-night and I walk out of the room. She stands up, reaches for me out of the crib and cries. She usually continues to cry from anywhere to 1-10 minutes while she crawls around and changes positions a few times and is then fast asleep. I HATE IT!!!! I hate thinking that she is sad when she goes to sleep.
Those who know Nicolette know that she almost NEVER cries. Honestly, I'm not exaggerating. She's just a very easygoing, good natured baby. She doesn't fuss or whine when she's hungry, hardly ever cries when she bumps or bangs herself...nothing. And we don't have this same issue with naps. She'll even play in her crib before or after naps most of the time. So to have to hear her cry at bedtime EVERY night is pure torture for me. I'm out of ideas and don't know what else to do but let her cry. If I stay in the room she continues to stand up and reach for me and gets more and more worked up until she can't fall asleep. If I hold her she wiggles and squirms and cries and continues to get worked up. I honestly don't know what is "the right thing" to do.
So point being...never say never. I'm now a CIO mom and I hate it.
If you have any other tips to share please let me know. I'm out of ideas and am sad about this every night.
When Nicolette was around 6 1/2 to 7 months old it became obvious that it was time to move to the crib. She was starting to wiggle and toss and turn more and more during the night and was waking up (I think) because she was uncomfortable and unable to move freely while snuggled in my arms. For 2 1/2 months we STRUGGLED to transition to the crib through chronic and incessant night wakings. Finally at around 9 months old, Nicolette seemed to have gotten the hang of sleeping in her crib. I was able to rock her until drowsy and put her in the crib. She'd fuss a little but I could rub her back or even lay down on the floor next to her and hold her hand and she'd settle down and fall asleep with little drama.
Around 11 months old she suddenly stopped letting me put her down. We'd nurse and rock and she'd get drowsy but start squirming, fussing and eventually crying. If I continued to hold her and rock her she'd work up into a full blown cry. I' put her in the crib and immediate crying, popping up to all fours or standing. I try patting her back, rubbing her, laying her back down, laying down on the floor next to the crib...no matter what I do, the crying just escalates and escalates. Pick her back up and rock her, more wiggling, squirming and crying.
Against everything that my gut tells me, I lay her in her crib, kiss her and tell her that I love her and that it's time to go night-night and I walk out of the room. She stands up, reaches for me out of the crib and cries. She usually continues to cry from anywhere to 1-10 minutes while she crawls around and changes positions a few times and is then fast asleep. I HATE IT!!!! I hate thinking that she is sad when she goes to sleep.
Those who know Nicolette know that she almost NEVER cries. Honestly, I'm not exaggerating. She's just a very easygoing, good natured baby. She doesn't fuss or whine when she's hungry, hardly ever cries when she bumps or bangs herself...nothing. And we don't have this same issue with naps. She'll even play in her crib before or after naps most of the time. So to have to hear her cry at bedtime EVERY night is pure torture for me. I'm out of ideas and don't know what else to do but let her cry. If I stay in the room she continues to stand up and reach for me and gets more and more worked up until she can't fall asleep. If I hold her she wiggles and squirms and cries and continues to get worked up. I honestly don't know what is "the right thing" to do.
So point being...never say never. I'm now a CIO mom and I hate it.
If you have any other tips to share please let me know. I'm out of ideas and am sad about this every night.
**********************************************************************
For an update see my subsequent blog post here. Nicolette started sleeping well and going to sleep on her own with NO problem as soon as she mastered the art of walking. I honestly believe that she suffered from Developmental Milestone Night Waking. Her poor little brain and body were just consumed with the thought of becoming fully mobile to sleep. Once she mastered that, she was able to sleep peacefully!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)