Note my favorite photo of my son Pierce when he was only a wee boy!
Seeing as though I have a seven month old, I am in the middle of this whole "sleeping through the night" debate/issue.
I consider myself sort of "in the middle" when it comes to the Crying It Out idea and the NO-CRY Sleep Method. I really do not think it's good to let your baby cry and cry but I'm also realistic and have had numerous sleepless nights when I just wanted to put the earplugs in and call it a night.
I sort of feel like if you let a baby cry for 30 minutes one night and he breaks the habit of waking up in the night, then OK, let's not sit and worry about the possibility that he/she might have ADHD later on in his/her life.
BUT, if you're letting your baby cry until he just finally falls back asleep every night, then that's just heart-wrenching!
Cry It Out Method or No-Cry Sleep Method. How about what I call the CHILL OUT, Who Cares What Other Babies Are Doing Method.
With my first son, I remember two {yes, two, don't ask me how} nights when I heard him cry, shut off the monitor next to my bed, and accidentally fell back asleep before getting up to feed him. When I woke up an hour {or two?} later, he was sound asleep. I felt HORRIBLE and neglectful {thought to myself - "in some places that might be considered child neglect"}. But he never woke up in the night again after that. A little "whoops" mixed with a little "phew"!
This time around I get up with my son Roman every night and sometimes twice a night. He's 100% breast fed {with some solids here and there} and he needs the food. It's awesome if your child sleeps through the night but if he/she doesn't you're NOT doing anything wrong and you're definitely NOT alone. Mothers hear that so-and-so's baby sleeps through the night and he's only 3 months, or so-and-sos baby is a year and they STILL wake up at night. Blah blah. It's all normal. It's all okay. Don't worry - just be okay with the fact that you might have to go to bed a little earlier than others!
I came across the wonderful article today on KellyMom.com that really captured my thoughts and beliefs about all of this very well.
PLEASE READ IT! It's very helpful and reminds us that if you breast feed your baby, it's normal that he/she needs you at night. In a nutshell the article says: "Don't be stressed when you wake up each morning and think "what am I doing wrong!"
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