Sleep Training (pt. 1)

Oh my lord.

I learned things last night you guys, I learned things.

So, before we get started, I know not everyone agrees with the 'Cry It Out' method. We're just going to set that aside, okay? If you want to hear a comically spun tale of my first night of baby boot camp, read on, if you think I'm a horrible, selfish, psych ruining parent, then just, just don't, okay? I've suffered enough.

Everyone told me that it was going to be harder on me then on the baby. In the end, they were right. Charlotte ended her night happily cooing and playing with her feet before drifting to sleep (albeit, after about an hour of screaming) while I ended my night racked with guilt, yearning to cuddle my sweet girl to sleep, and feeling SO far away from her now that she's moved from her Rock'n'Play to the crib.

I first laid her down at 730, she played happily in her crib for about a half an hour as she usually does, but then, then hell broke lose.

Charlotte doesn't cry, she's a good baby and we have an understanding. Fuss when you need something, when that something is fixed, stop fussing. It's been an agreement between me and her for about 5 months now. Her low key fussing was replaced with PCP level screams, tears running down her cheeks, and a development of a entirely new facial expression that I don't really know how to handle.

I took to Twitter, live tweeting my living nightmare, #sleeptraining, searching for other mothers who could calm me, strengthen my resolve, etc., I frantically texted friends, checked in with aunts and grandmas on Facebook, and eventually sat with my husband googling sleep training blogs together (which ended in us YouTube searching 'cute baby' videos) and kept to my promise of 'ever 15 minutes'.

It took an entire hour. I kissed tears off her cheeks, patted her tummy, broke down ONCE and picked her up to sooth her, and finally, finally, it was quiet.

My husband and I finally snuck into bed (we share a room) about 2 hours after the start of the ordeal.

All said and done, the break down looks like this…

730-800 : Playing happily
800-900 : Fussing, crying, screaming, breaking mom and dads hearts
900-930 : Quiet, but awake, most likely plotting revenge
930: Asleep


I'll be live Tweeting (kisforkandyce) again tonight, as we venture into night two of sleep training, wish us luck!

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Charlotte is 5.5 months old, she may be teething, but I'm not positive. She rolled over from her stomach to back AND from her back to her stomach all in the same day. She likes to scream 'MAMA' even though I knowwww she's not actually saying mama, it's uncanny.