She has been giving us a hard time lately. She just ended a growth spurt and she's teething...both contributing to extra fussiness, especially around sleeping time.We are trying our hardest to transition from us putting her to sleep (with swaddling, using the pacifier, rocking, singing, etc.) to her being able to put herself to sleep - "self-soothing." She's definitely old enough to do this now.
All the books tell you how to do it - have a specific bedtime and a routine, be consistent, put her down drowsy but not asleep, give her time to fall asleep on her own, blah, blah, blah.
It all sounds great on paper, but our particular child will continue to cry and cry and cry if she's not put down asleep or almost asleep. She still needs the help from us - and lately she even resists that (she hates to be swaddled but can't sleep without it).
I am against the "cry it out" philosophy, however we did give it a half-hearted try the other night. She cried nonstop from midnight to 1:30. By that time it was time for a night feeding, and afterwords I just swaddled her like usual and she slept just fine.
Is there any other option besides swaddling & rocking to sleep or letting her just lay there crying for hours? We can't find a happy medium, and we are open to suggestions...
1 comment:
Jenny SanQ here. Here's what I remember: Adam NEVER like swaddling with his arms pinned in but did like the blanket wrapped around his legs. Also, I gave up the notion of EVER taking his pacifier away before he turns 2. I know it will be hard to take it away but I lived through the weekend it took to take it away from both of my nieces - literally, it only took a weekend, even though it felt like it was never gonna end! And the cry it out thing will eventually work. I know there was 90 minutes of it for you the other night, but Erin with soon learn that sleep is her friend and it will diminish quickly. Adam averaged 10 minutes to cry himself to sleep around 6 months. My advice is to mostly close the door to your room and hers when you put her down and try to get in some rest and she'll learn to drift off soon.
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