It's just ridiculous that it takes so long getting Baby settled for sleep. This morning she woke up at 7am; I fed and changed her, and played with her for about five minutes before it looked to me that she needed to go back to sleep (probably because she really wanted to sleep in). It took a whole hour of rocking, crooning, patting and stroking before she finally closed her eyes. Thirty minutes later she was wide awake again - awake but still tired.
Something had to be done. This weekend is the start of letting Baby cry to settle. It's not quite Ferberising, but along the same lines. I'll spend 20 minutes settling her before putting her down in her cot whether she's falling asleep or not. Then I'll walk out the door; if she cries I'll wait 20 minutes before going in to calm her down, then leave.
We tried it this afternoon, after she'd gotten by on two half-hour catnaps all morning. It wasn't easy to hear, and I was damned glad the boy was sitting in the lounge with me. The good part was, approximately half an hour after her initial wails (boy, did she sound pissed off at being left alone!), she went quiet. The boy went in to check on her soon after, and she was fast asleep.
You gotta be cruel to be kind.
2 comments:
It's really hard to listen to a baby cry but it seems to be the only way.
It will get better..
happyandblue2: I sure hope so. We weren't so lucky with the next nap - Baby cried like an orphan abandoned in a puddle on a cold and rainy day without so much as a blanket. I gave up after half and hour because it was getting close to her bath and bed time. I've been on edge since then.
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