All of my babies have been great sleepers. By the time they were 2 or 3 months old, they would sleep through the night. Until Rylen. He is 9 months old and still getting up 2-3 times each night! He wants to nurse, but I really think it's more for comfort than because he's really hungry. He nurses for just a few minutes and then goes back to sleep. So he's not up for long, but by the time I wake up, make Aaron get the baby out of the crib (because if I'm awake, why shouldn't he wake up too?), nurse Rylen, try to make Aaron put the baby back but realize that he is already asleep again, get up and put Rylen in his crib, try to make him take a pacifier when he wakes up as I lay him down, make him mad by trying to give him a pacifier, give up and take him back to nurse some more, and repeat above until he finally stays asleep, it's a decent chunk of time gone from my already short night's sleep. Especially if we do all of this another time or two.
I complained a bit about this on Facebook a week or so ago. (Because that's what Facebook is for - sharing a happy status and venting when needed!) And I got lots of advice from people who've dealt with this sort of thing. Which I totally appreciate, because I'm certainly open to new things to try. The one I'm not open to, though, is CIO.
CIO - if you don't know the acronym - is Cry It Out. Which (as I understand it, which could be totally off base) means that sometimes you have to let baby cry himself back to sleep, because if you go in every time he cries, you're reinforcing him and encouraging him to keep waking up at night so you'll go pick him up. I know there are various methods, and some involve staying in the room, some staying out, and that sort of thing. I get the concept, and I see why people do it. I have no issues at all with anyone who uses CIO. I just can't do it. I can't! I've tried and I don't have the willpower. I cannot stand to hear the baby cry and not do something about it. Not when I know I can stop it by just going over there and picking him up.
So I may be accidentally training Rylen to wake me up instead of sleeping through the night, but I just don't CIO.
3 comments:
I had to CIO with 3 of my babies. It took 1 or 2 nights, and after that we all had blissfully uninterrupted sleep. Just sayin'.
I am with you on this one. I have always been opposed to letting my own baby's cry too. Like you, it's not that I judge or even care if other's do it with their own, it just never felt right to me. But, with Jacob I let others pressure me into it. Did he end up sleeping? Sure. But I remember regretting this choice as he was older. I felt horrible for what I had done to Jacob. If he was crying, he must have needed me and I left him alone; teaching him that I was not dependable.
Now, I know all babies sleep different. Lauren was a night waker until the age of 1. She nursed several times a night until I stopped nursing her at night. At that point, JP would get up with her, get her a drink and put her back to sleep. If she saw me she wanted to nurse. If JP put her to bed she was fine not nursing. Eventually she slept through the night. Brynna and Ethan slept through the night all on their own, with out crying it out. I think each child is different with what they are willing and able to do. It may just be that Rylen is making up for the nursing and cuddling that he misses with you during the day. I know it's hard, but I'd treasure this time with him. Soon enough he'll wean, sleep through the night and you'll be getting some peaceful ZZZZ's!
(sorry for the long post)
But what I say is, follow your own "mother's heart". It was given to you for your babies. No one knows better than you.
I was the same as you with my babies. I had 2 good sleepers for a while. My oldest was the one that got up a lot. The next one was ruined with RSV. The last one was ruined with a move. By 2 and a half Eric slept well. At about 1 and a half Sean slept well. I'm still waiting on Noel.(I know. Not too encouraging.) Everyone I asked for advise said the same thing. I personally couldn't handle it. Do what works for you. Hopefully it will get better soon.
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