Hi everyone. As I mentioned in a previous post, we have been having a hard time getting Lucy to sleep through the night. While we were traveling for the holidays, it was impossible to do anything about this. Now that we are home, we are trying to help Lucy to sleep in her own crib and sleep through the night, so that she can get the rest she needs.
We are trying a version of the Cry-it-Out method, and it has been really tough. Lucy is eight months old, which means that she is already pretty set in her ways. She is frustrated that we are changing things up on her, that we will no longer rock her or feed her until she falls asleep. Perhaps it might have been easier if we had started this months ago, but we didn't. There is so much conflicting information out there, saying that it is harmful to let your baby "cry it out", and it is harmful NOT to let your baby "cry it out". (This funny article speaks to this particular frustration. It's hilarious and accurate.)
We have been at it for three nights, and she screams for approximately two hours before falling asleep. As you can probably imagine, this is agony. I hate it. I am tearing up just thinking about it. I know that it will benefit all of us in the long run, but for now, all I want to do is give up. I am frustrated and sick of advice and books and systems. While I was reading these stupid books, I should have been reading my own child, paying attention to her individual needs and patterns.
Solids, on the other hand, are going well. Lucy loves solid food, and she has even come around to bananas. She is starting to pick pieces up and feed herself. Her favorite foods are applesauce, sweet potatoes, peas, kale, carrots, and french fries (She always reaches for them on our plates when we are at restaurants!). She still seems to enjoy breast milk, which is good because I am not ready to give that up :)
Overall, Lucy is doing well, and I am so proud of her. While sleeping is a struggle for her, I know that she will get the hang of it eventually. We are working to establish more of a predictable routine for her, so she can start to view sleep as something positive. In the mean time, I would love your prayers. M and I are both having a hard time. Actually, I'm sure it's harder for us than for Lucy :)
Lauren, when Brian was doing this, we were told to use the two-door principle....you close their door AND your door. The problem was that we had to keep our windows open at nights to keep the house cool and we were worried that he would wake up the neighbors, whose windows were also open. SO, we would walk into his room and he would look up expectantly at us. We would then walk past the crib, close the window and walk out again. It wasn't funny then but sure is now!!! AND....it worked. Keep at it!!!!
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