I knew that crawling was a natural stage for babies to go through....but I had no idea that I would find MYSELF on all fours during the process. Let me explain... Alex used to be a fabulous sleeper. I bragged about his naps and his nights--and a few months ago that all came to a screeching halt. He is still a good napper, but his nights have been really difficult. It's come to the point that if he's only up once or twice, it's a "good" night. Yikes!! So after a few months of waiting for him to grow out of it, Kevin and I realize that he's getting settled into a habit that may haunt us for years to come. SO, we've entered into week 1 of SLEEP TRAINING. I've read a couple of books, searched online for miracle cures, and talked it to death with anyone I know that has a baby who sleeps. We gave the "crying" method a shot....and two hours later decided we needed Method #2. And then that method has holes, and then the next wasn't perfect either.....
So last night I sat on the floor next to Alex's crib and repeated "shh, mommy's here, shh, lay down, shh, please go to sleep...." for about three hours (okay, more like 15 minutes, but it SEEMED like 3 hours) and then, for fear of him seeing me sneak out, I crawled on all fours out of his room. I stopped outside his room, gently closed the door and had a good laugh at myself. I couldn't help but wonder how many other moms and dads had ever found themselves in the same predicament--probably quite a few!!
Today he only slept for 30 minutes in the car so we set his bedtime for 5:00. He peacefully fell asleep after his night-time bottle (we're only fighting one battle at a time here, so no comments on the fact that he's still using a bottle, please!! :)). He's in his bed and we are about to have a nice quiet dinner. Hopefully he won't smell the food and decide it's time for Round 2.
:)
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
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2 comments:
Dear Natalie,
I laughed out loud while reading your description of the latest "get Alex to sleep" plan....my mental picture of you crawling out and then laughing at your self is priceless. I'm sure you all will figure it out eventually.
Love,
Pop
Your crawling entry cracked me up! =) I agree with you on the "letting him cry it out" method...MY nerves have never been able to handle that! Wish I had some advice on how to get him to sleep...actually I do, but you probably don't want to hear it (it's not PC)...PUT HIM IN THE BED WITH YOU!! If the difference is me getting some shut-eye, I'll do WHATEVER necessary! Believe me, he won't be in there forever, and it will get you some zzzz's now! Put him to bed in his crib, but if he wakes up during the night, stumble into his room, pick him up, and you and him fall back into your bed...I promise, he'll sleep like a rock! It's a phase that he's going thru that he will get out of!
Here's to un-interrupted sleep for you!
Missy
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