One day about 2 weeks ago, I noticed that Maggie usually goes right to sleep in her car seat. No fighting her. It made me wonder why can she fall asleep by herself in her car seat, but not outside of it? So I got to thinking, maybe it’s the music. Maybe she likes the music and the movement to fall asleep to. Because when I just bounce her around, she cries. It was her bedtime and I decided I was going to put my theory to test so I put on some ABBA (dancing queen to be exact), I scooped Maggie into my arms and danced around our bedroom. ZERO crying and she fell right to sleep against my shoulder. I couldn’t believe it. I put her in her crib with no drama and one happy baby and mamma.
Over the last two weeks I have been able to put her down for naps and bedtime this way – music and dancing. As long as she has been fed recently, it usually works. And I have to admit I love it. She usually will stare at me for a few minutes before relaxing into my shoulder and falling fast asleep. I know that soon she will be too big or heavy to continue this routine, so for right now I am enjoying it. I know I am supposed to put her in her crib partially awake, but I don’t care. I love this special time and I will worry about the “consequences” later.
So her bedtime routine with me is
1. Jammies on and a fresh diaper. We play with toys during this time.
2. I take her upstairs and turn on some music and turn most of the lights off
3. I carry her around the bedroom while I do things like brush my teeth and change for bed.
4. Sometimes I read her a story
5. I hold her upright against my shoulder and dance to the music until she falls asleep (which is usually 1-2 songs)
6. I put her in her crib, tell her I love her, and then head downstairs. Not a bad way to end a day.
Showing posts with label CIO method. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CIO method. Show all posts
Monday, April 4, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Battle for Bed - Day 4
Day three was a mixture of successes (napping on her own) and crying (by us and Maggie) Which brings us to day 4.
So last night we threw the whole cry-it-out method out the window. We got back from friends at midnight and Melissa decided to snuggle and get Maggie to sleep the way she likes and Maggie slept until 6am - she then woke up and then fell back asleep until 8am. No fighting with her, no listening to her cry. It was wonderful.
Today we had Maggie all over town and she missed some of her naps (or they were cut short). So it was no surprise that Miss Maggie was crabby by 8. Melissa took her up to put her to bed and as par for the last four days, Maggie began to cry. I was down stairs on the phone while Melissa was left to do the dirty work of letting her cry-it-out. After I got off the phone, I could hear Maggie crying and I figured MJ could probably use some support and a break, so I went upstairs. Maggie was frantically crying and coughing from being so upset and although I know we are trying to let her CIO, I picked her up anyway. Maggie was full of air from crying so hard. After that, Melissa and I talked about what our goals were and she mentioned her concern that by being “wishy washy” we are probably making it worse. Maggie may be learning to cry louder since her first cries “aren’t working”
At this point, I confessed that I don’t really agree with the cry it out method and it turns out, neither does MJ. We both agreed we are doing too many things to her at once. We are trying to get her to sleep in her crib, fix her bedtime and self soothe. In addition, I just can't help but feel like I am sending the wrong signal to Maggie. I have no doubt that the CIO method works. I have no doubt that Maggie is crying because she wants to be comforted by us. But I just keep thinking "What am I really teaching Maggie when I let her cry for 2+ hours? Am I teaching her to self soothe? or am I teaching her that she can no longer rely on us to comfort her at night? She is only 6 months old. She isn't even weaned and I am expecting her to self soothe??? That makes no sense to me. In addition, Maggie is too young to want to be independent. If she had her way, we would be with her 24/7. And I can’t blame her.
Thankfully, Melissa agreed with and had similar feelings about the cry it out method. So together we decided to focus on just getting Maggie to sleep in her crib and to get her bedtime back to 8:30pm. Once we decided that CIO was shelved- MJ snuggled Maggie up and Maggie was out like a light and slept in her crib until 1am when she lost her paci. MJ corrected the situation and Maggie was out again until. 3am for some food. She slept in her crib all night and when I left this morning, she was still asleep.
I am sure we will have to try this again later, but right now when Maggie cries – we are picking her up.
So last night we threw the whole cry-it-out method out the window. We got back from friends at midnight and Melissa decided to snuggle and get Maggie to sleep the way she likes and Maggie slept until 6am - she then woke up and then fell back asleep until 8am. No fighting with her, no listening to her cry. It was wonderful.
Today we had Maggie all over town and she missed some of her naps (or they were cut short). So it was no surprise that Miss Maggie was crabby by 8. Melissa took her up to put her to bed and as par for the last four days, Maggie began to cry. I was down stairs on the phone while Melissa was left to do the dirty work of letting her cry-it-out. After I got off the phone, I could hear Maggie crying and I figured MJ could probably use some support and a break, so I went upstairs. Maggie was frantically crying and coughing from being so upset and although I know we are trying to let her CIO, I picked her up anyway. Maggie was full of air from crying so hard. After that, Melissa and I talked about what our goals were and she mentioned her concern that by being “wishy washy” we are probably making it worse. Maggie may be learning to cry louder since her first cries “aren’t working”
At this point, I confessed that I don’t really agree with the cry it out method and it turns out, neither does MJ. We both agreed we are doing too many things to her at once. We are trying to get her to sleep in her crib, fix her bedtime and self soothe. In addition, I just can't help but feel like I am sending the wrong signal to Maggie. I have no doubt that the CIO method works. I have no doubt that Maggie is crying because she wants to be comforted by us. But I just keep thinking "What am I really teaching Maggie when I let her cry for 2+ hours? Am I teaching her to self soothe? or am I teaching her that she can no longer rely on us to comfort her at night? She is only 6 months old. She isn't even weaned and I am expecting her to self soothe??? That makes no sense to me. In addition, Maggie is too young to want to be independent. If she had her way, we would be with her 24/7. And I can’t blame her.
Thankfully, Melissa agreed with and had similar feelings about the cry it out method. So together we decided to focus on just getting Maggie to sleep in her crib and to get her bedtime back to 8:30pm. Once we decided that CIO was shelved- MJ snuggled Maggie up and Maggie was out like a light and slept in her crib until 1am when she lost her paci. MJ corrected the situation and Maggie was out again until. 3am for some food. She slept in her crib all night and when I left this morning, she was still asleep.
I am sure we will have to try this again later, but right now when Maggie cries – we are picking her up.
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