CIO

Crying It Out. Alot of people don't believe in this nowadays. The ones that do don't want to be public about it. A lot of new moms on the bulletin boards are highly against it. You feel like a monster if you do this to your baby. And,if you do, I'm told, only do it for 5 minutes (I think they say this so it doesn't sound as bad). But, if they're still crying after 5 minutes and you go in there, wouldn't that reinforce the behavior for them to extend their crying knowing you'll be coming back every 5 minutes?

Before I had a baby, I thought to myself, "sure, I would let them cry it out if they didn't go to sleep". Since I've had a baby, the tune has changed. I go to him for every little fuss he makes. When he wakes up and struggles and fusses from his naps after 15 mins or 30 mins, go in there and pop the pacifier back into his mouth. Sometimes by then, it's getting close to eating, so I would pick him up.

Last night he woke up at 11:30, 1:30 (pacifier), 2:30, 4:30 (pacifier), 5! He didn't stay up from 1:30 to 2:30 this time (been like that for the last couple of nights, but why is he waking up so much? I can't keep doing this. He can't keep doing this, I know it's not good for him. I want him to be a good sleeper, not like me. And, with Jay having a new job with longer hours, I'm going to go crazy if he's awake all the time and fussy. I'm sure I know what the problem is..too much going in there to comfort him and too much pacifier. Also, I think he can last longer between feedings. I need to realize that he'll tell me if he is hungry.

I decided this morning that for his morning nap I would keep him up for a 1/2 more than normal before putting him down and let him Cry It Out if he wakes up. Ok, I sorta did this. After 1/2 hour he started to fuss, went in there tried to comfort him and put his pacer back in. Left the room. Didn't work (of course)and he fussed for about 10 mins and cried for about 5 mins. I didn't go in. I held myself back. It was torture! I had to go into the kitchen and wash his bottles to try and distract myself. When I was done, what did I hear? Silence! He fell back to sleep by himself without his pacifier! Now I just need to convince myself that I'm strong enough to not just rush in and let him cry for a bit. I just don't want him crying for an hour! I hope that never happens. Even 30 minutes would be bad. And I know logically that every time I go in there to comfort him, I would be reinforcing the crying. Emotionally, it's heartbreaking..always wondering if he's ok. I just have to be strong now for all the other naps. Gotta stay focused and reassure myself that it's ok...training a dog is so much easier.