I am slowly going crazy, 1 2 3 4 5 6 switch.
Crazy going slowly am I, 6 5 4 3 2 1 switch.
This song is playing in my head right now. I feel like I am slowly going insane. This is the reason I haven't been posting as much this month. I brain moves like a slug, and writing skills (and speech skills) are casualties.
My little angel, who at 4 months was sleeping thru the night, has now decided that sleep is an option, not a necessity. I have tried to reason with her, and explain that mom needs her sleep. But the poor girl is waking every 2 to 3 hours, and it is taking us about an hour to get her back to sleep.
I know it is my fault somehow. The big question is "How do I fix it?"
Sleep Training might be the answer.
There are 2 different types of sleep training.
The No Tears Method
There are many variations that fall into this catagory. Most of them have you rock or feed the baby until they fall asleep, and you pick up to soothe the baby each time they wake up. The idea is to respond to them each time they cry (just not to every noise they make).
The Cry It Out Method
There are many variations to this method as well, but one main one that is employed. This is the Ferber Method. This method has you wait a predetermined amount of time before responding to the baby's cries. Each time you respond, the amount of time between is lengthened. As well, you limit how much time you spend soothing the baby.
You would think it would be easy for us to decide which method to use. Who likes to hear their baby crying? Without even knowing it, we have been using the No Tears Method already. And apparently, that is not working.
I have never wanted to use the Cry It Out method, but we need to do something.
Our first step will be moving her bedtime to 8:00 pm. That will take a couple of nights as her current bedtime is between 9:00 pm and 10:00 pm. As well, we have to establish a consistant bedtime routine. Tonight, we will start with some energetic play at around 2 hours before bed to burn off any excess energy. Then an hour before bed, we will wash up or take a bath, put on a clean diaper and PJ's. This will be followed by the TV being turned off for a bottle, some quiet play and a bedtime story. Then into bed.
This is when Ferber's method comes into effect. According to his method, you say good night and leave the room. If baby cries, you wait the alloted amount of time, then go in and comfort the baby with out picking them up. After 2 minutes, you leave the room, even if the baby is still crying. You then wait a slightly longer amount of time before you go back in. You keep repeating this until they fall asleep. If they wake during the night, you start from the beginning.
Each following night, your initial waiting time is slightly longer. Within a week, baby should be sleeping through the night.
The hardest part will be listening to her cry. I don't know if I can do it, but I have to try.
Or I will go insane.
There are 2 different types of sleep training.
The No Tears Method
There are many variations that fall into this catagory. Most of them have you rock or feed the baby until they fall asleep, and you pick up to soothe the baby each time they wake up. The idea is to respond to them each time they cry (just not to every noise they make).
The Cry It Out Method
There are many variations to this method as well, but one main one that is employed. This is the Ferber Method. This method has you wait a predetermined amount of time before responding to the baby's cries. Each time you respond, the amount of time between is lengthened. As well, you limit how much time you spend soothing the baby.
You would think it would be easy for us to decide which method to use. Who likes to hear their baby crying? Without even knowing it, we have been using the No Tears Method already. And apparently, that is not working.
I have never wanted to use the Cry It Out method, but we need to do something.
Our first step will be moving her bedtime to 8:00 pm. That will take a couple of nights as her current bedtime is between 9:00 pm and 10:00 pm. As well, we have to establish a consistant bedtime routine. Tonight, we will start with some energetic play at around 2 hours before bed to burn off any excess energy. Then an hour before bed, we will wash up or take a bath, put on a clean diaper and PJ's. This will be followed by the TV being turned off for a bottle, some quiet play and a bedtime story. Then into bed.
This is when Ferber's method comes into effect. According to his method, you say good night and leave the room. If baby cries, you wait the alloted amount of time, then go in and comfort the baby with out picking them up. After 2 minutes, you leave the room, even if the baby is still crying. You then wait a slightly longer amount of time before you go back in. You keep repeating this until they fall asleep. If they wake during the night, you start from the beginning.
Each following night, your initial waiting time is slightly longer. Within a week, baby should be sleeping through the night.
The hardest part will be listening to her cry. I don't know if I can do it, but I have to try.
Or I will go insane.
Posts
Let me stress THIS IS NOT YOUR FAULT! I really feel for you - I could never let her cry. We had the same problem and it turned out she was hungry and teething! A little bit of solid food/pablum or toast and some gripe water (to get the farts out) did the trick. This was also the time I weaned her and she was sensitive to milk. Sometimes we reverted to tylenol. My friend is using a white noise machine to help.
ReplyDelete~Lee-ann
Alexis went through the same thing about 8 months old. The doctor told me it was that she was learning to be independant. She wants you, but doesn't and can't make up her mind. I did the no tears meathod for a month, then did the cry it out meathod and that worked. At first I let her cry a min and then the most 5 min. By 5 min she was asleep. This took about a month. It was hard to listen to her cry, but then we were both getting sleep and that made for a happy mommy and baby:D I did take her to the doctor to make sure she was not having food sensitivies or an underlying problem's. I would do that first. Every baby is different. Your a great Mom Gina!!! Please don't forget that! xoxox
ReplyDelete~Kerri~
Thank you for your suggestions. We are up to try anything, and we can incorporate a number of things at once. It will not be forever. One day, she will be 18.
ReplyDelete