I just happened to come across THIS ABC News piece on children and sleep training. They ask the same questions that I'm sure most parents run through their heads at some point; what is the best way to deal with getting our child to sleep? A topic that hits close to home, Noah was an incredibly poor sleeper from day one. I was floored, or should I say, I was an exhausted, sobbing puddle of baby Mama on the floor. No "sleepy newborn" period, no naps over 15 minutes long, no sleeping during the night for more than two or three hours at a time for over FOUR months. It was all just too much, sleep deprivation is a form of torture you know!
And that's when, (Cue the sunbeams and harp music), I brought out.... DUH....DUH....DUUUUH......SLEEP TRAINING! (Cue the screaming attachment parents).
Oh Hai. Dr. Weissbluth, is that you? Thank you for your slightly condescending, redundant, but completely amazing freaking BOOK! I love you. I love you book.
I will never forget the most difficult three evenings of my life, sitting outside Noah's door, hearing him cry himself to sleep. That little round guy, all I wanted to do was run in and save him, but the lack of sleep was not only killing us, it was also making Noah not feel great.
What I will also never forget is that......OH MY GAWD, after just a few nights, we were able to put him down like a dream. No fussing, no crying, just a tired baby, ready for rest. It's been like that ever since, even with his naps and after getting a big boy bed. What a good kid, huh?
Yes, I must admit that until just about oh.......THREE (throwing up) YEARS OLD, he consistently woke up in the middle of the night for some reason or other, but he has always been able, for the most part, to sooth himself back to sleep quite easily. Times when instead of running into his room, all I had to do was lay in my bed, cursing at the ceiling and lamenting that I was at wake at 4:00am, AGAIN. But still.....STILL people, at least I didn't have to get out of bed. Do you know how wonderful and refreshing it is to have a kid that you just bath, pajama, read a book to, kiss goodnight and walk out of the room to? No hassle, it's so nice.
I've met parents, (NO Jen, not you!), who never really gave their children bedtime parameters, and now as our kids become of school age, I'm really seeing it snowball into exhausted children, and parents tired of the long night time battles. These are good, loving, involved, well meaning Mothers and Fathers, but sometimes, it just takes a little introspection to realize that there might be an easier way out there.
So, if some method or other is working for you and your family, great! But, if you are looking for a new solution, I highly recommend sleep training.
The End. Zzzzzzz..........................
3 comments:
Oh I totally agree! My sister didn't sleep train Zach, and he STILL is a terrible sleeper. Scott and I learned early on to let the girls cry themselves to sleep until the developed a healthy sleep pattern. They LOVE to sleep. They haven't gotten up much in the middle of the night since, oh, 2004. :) Oh yeah! Sleep training, baby! All the way!
Yep, yep! In total agreement here. Thankfully, I've been blessed with good sleepers since infancy but neither of them ever slept with us, only in a cradle in our room when they were little. We've used the CIO method on both girls and wouldn't do it differently. Now, not only do both go down without a hassle, most nights, but Cara even puts herself down for a nap. Kids just know!
Thanks for weighing-in you guys. I'm glad to hear that you both found something that worked for the girls. I felt so guilty when we were trying to get Noah to sleep on his own, but, in the end, it really did make for a more rested kid.
Oh! Cara and the naps, ha! That's great.
Love you guys!!!
xo :)
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