last week was hard.
and tiring.
and worth it.
little sweets has been "sleeping through the night" (as in no feedings) for months, but would wake anywhere from 0-5 times a night for her paci. all i have to do is go in, give her the cork, and go back to sleep. not that big of a deal, but still a deal. i'd rather not wake up ever...during the night :) so i had to re-read my sleep book because i forgot everything i did to make jagger such a great sleeper. it's never a pleasant week to set aside, but WORTH IT. so when little vienna would wake, i let her cry. the book says 45 minutes, we cap it at 30. and any mother knows 2 minutes feels like an hour, so the 30 was torture!
and nicoles spawn = stubborn stubborn kids. (i guess that's what i get for being so stubborn myself yeah?) she cried the full 30 minutes. every. time. so i'd go in to my sweaty, worked up, howling little girl, give her the paci, walk away and she's freak out again. only to calm down a couple minutes later...now that she had her paci and was over the fact that i had left. this went on for the first 3 nights. the book also says that it takes 3 nights to establish a new sleep routine. i thought i'd give it a week. on day 2 we decided we'd give it only 5 days instead. i must add that although it was hard to let jagger cry it out, it was NOTHING compared to vienna! i don't know what it is...the fact that she's a girl, that she's a mamma's girl, her desire to just want to be with us, the fact that she gets all sweaty when she cries, her desperate squeals...probably all of that combined!! anyway, night 4 she slept though the night. night 5 she was up again and cried the entire 30 minutes. sigh. we decided to give up. throw in the towel. go soft. i guess i will just get up a couple times per night and plug it until she's old enough to grab it herself. that's only a couple more months anyway, right? but i am happy to report that our breaking point was her breaking point!!! ever since day 5 she has been sleeping like an angel. she is happier. we are happier. now if only we could get jagger to stop wetting the bed :)
ps. all parents do things differently. those of you who frown upon my method are probably very tired. but to each her own right? instead of giving my baby instant gratification, i gave her the gift of sleep. it's amazing how much better of a mom i am with sleep. and amazing how much more happy my babies are because of it.
10 comments:
I think you are great!! It is much harder it be a good mom. I'm glad your hard work has paid off.
Congrats, that is quite the achievement. I think your side note at the bottom was very appropriate, those who don't agree are probably very very tired :)
gosh i dont know how you did it. it is just such torture to hear them cry. Aj was a good little sleeper till aaron went to OCS now he wants to sleep in bed with me everynight. i would try for hours to get him to go back to sleep rocking and soothing then i would give up and put him in bed with me. im glad to hear im not the only one with sleepy struggles and its good to hear a story with a good ending! poor little jagger though, i would hate to wake up in an accident! good luck with him!!
Hey! I just caught up on your blog! Congrats on your little girl--she's beautiful! Glad you're doing well and so true about the sleep thing! When they sleep, you sleep and life is SO much better for everyone! :)
What book did you get that advice from? I would be interested to read it sometime.
It is the first form of tough love we give to our children. If they figure out they can work us at just a few months imagine what they will be like at 16!!! AHHHH!!! :)
Nicole your kiddos are soooo beautiful. Sleeping habits are just insane. Nathan was a light sleeper he didn't sleep all through the night until he was 2. Sophia is a little better but still has her issues at night. Anyways, love your pics I am thinking about buying a really cool and (expensive) camera but don't know what to get. What do you have because your pics are amazing.!!!
Crying is very difficult to deal with. But it is SO worth it. I think you're a great mom and girls are just more stubborn. Just think, she'll be very independent.
I just have to say that I'm on your team with this one! I read the same book, did the same thing, sleep just as well. :) (until Nate's molars started coming in...good times)
ROCK ON!!!
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