Flipping amazing, you guys.
Last night, Anneliese woke at 3am. She was just making fussy sounds and then putting her head back down, not crying. So I watched her on the monitor. About 40 minutes later, she was asleep again, on her own. No crying, just fussing.
She woke again at about 5:30 because she had rolled off of her floor bed. Either that or she woke and then rolled off… who knows. It’s not a far drop and she doesn’t get hurt when that happens, but it’s definitely surprising and not restful!
So I went in and got her and brought her to my bed. Nursed her, and then she slept in the co-sleeper for a while before waking and wanting to nurse again in the morning.
After that, she was still sleepy so I lay her on my bed beside me. She napped again, for a while. Then she just hung out on my bed, still resting, but awake.
Please note:
1) She hasn’t been able to put herself back to sleep when waking at night in months.
2) She has NEVER slept on my bed without being in contact with my (or my husband’s) body before. And I don’t mean her foot touching my leg. I mean full-body contact.
3) She has NEVER just hung out, relaxing on her tummy. Ever.
We went to take some pictures for a friend, and Anneliese rested in the ring sling the whole time (with my hoodie zipped up completely covering her, because it was very windy and cold). Then when we came back home, she nursed and went back to bed.
I turned off the light, put her on her bed, said, “It’s time to go to sleep, baby girl.” and left. With her eyes opened, watching me leave. Usually that would mean instantly pushing up and crying out. This time? She drifted off to sleep. No problem. No struggle.
And she slept for 2 hours, without waking.
A twitter mama (who has a “locked” account so I don’t know if she wants me to link/share) told me that what I’ve been doing is called “Crying in arms.” So I googled it, and came up with this article, which confirmed my thoughts about the whole thing. I also came across this thread on mothering.com with lots of mamas emphasizing the differences between cry-it-out and crying-in-arms. This is good stuff.
Hi! I'm Emily. I'm a Navy wife and brand new stay at home mom. I cook simple, delicious, grain-free recipes, do crafts, decorate on a budget, and keep a happy home. I breastfeed, babywear, cloth diaper, and co-sleep, but I'm not a hippie.
Thank you for posting links to other sites! You always provide me with hours of great reading!
Randi recently posted..My Thoughts on CIO
I loved Mothering magazine. I remember reading somewhere that babies/children have different sleep patterns as adults and should be forced to sleep through the night. With that thought in mind think about how most of the people who live around the world sleep in a room together or co-sleep. Having someone in the room with an infant helps them to Not sleep through the night. This is good, yes good for two reasons. One is that the infant can nurse during the night which is good forth growth and brain develeopment and second I think that an infant can not wake themselves up when they stop breathing in the middle of the nightwhen forced to sleep through the night before they are ready. I do get the idea of them learning to put themselves back to sleep though. I guess I just never minded them sleeping with us. All thre of my boys started to stay in their own rooms around when they started school or age 5ish. We always had a room for them with their own bed. Read a book called the Continum Concept. http://www.continuum-concept.org/ and Mother Magazine has some excellent articles. i love your blog!
I meant shouldn’t be forced to sleep through the night. Sorry.
For about two months I had to use the CIO method on my son because he was so strong willed! I modified it to work for me and this is what I do……
I let him cry but I’ll have him hold my finger while my body and face are not in his eye sight. This way he knows I won’t be holding him, or picking him up but he can also tell he’s not alone. If he tries to pull my arm so he can see the rest of me I detach and say “go to sleep baby, shhhhh, go to sleep” and let go of his hand. He’s gotten really good at falling asleep on his own now.
I love these photos, they’re gorgeous. My son (six months old) just recently started relaxing on his stomach with his head down too. For the first time ever he’s also resting on me. Up until now he’s always wanted to look around or play but now, when tired, he’ll rest his head on my shoulder when I hold him and relax his whole body against mine. It’s so precious. I love it:)
Oh my god! This is exactly what my grandmother has been telling me I should do with my babies, and I never listened to her! (Sorry, Grandma.) It may be a little too late for me to use it now that my youngest is nearly two years old, but I suspect a modified version of this might have its use for older-child issues. Thanks for sharing!
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I’ve been trying to explain the crying-in-arms difference to my husband. I trained him so hardcore against CIO that he reacts strongly to ANY crying, which is both good and bad. A lot of times Sebastian has to cry at the breast before he’ll latch if he’s overtired, for instance.
Um, that bed looks REALLY comfy.
That is incredible! Good for you for persevering and seeing this through! I’m excited to start trying things. It’ll be hard during the day though with my toddler :/
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She’s getting it! Doesn’t surprise me. My boys figured it all out around the crawling stage. Especially my genius son. She’s a smarty that one.
I’m so happy this is going well!
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