Cry-It-Out (To Clarify)

It felt irresponsible not to mention that “cry-it-out” isn’t actually plopping your infant in her crib and letting her cry herself hoarse regardless of her needs because, you know, you’ve got shit to do. It's an established sleep training method a la Ferber and the like. Gaia’s had a solid bedtime (within a thirty minute time period) for well over a month. She also makes very clear signs when she’s sleepy such as tugging on her ears and rubbing her eyes. When she shows signs of getting sleepy in the evening we have a solid bedtime routine (bath-massage-book-feeding). With “cry-it-out” that all stays the same I just let Gaia soothe herself to sleep instead of me bouncing/rocking her when it’s all over. Ideally I was planning to go into her room to comfort her every twenty minutes but so far I haven’t had the opportunity (which is a good thing).

For those of you eager for an update, she put herself down for two naps today (her third was in my arms) and is currently asleep in bed without a single wail. I know this could all go sour any minute as babies have a talent for flipping the switch when you’re feeling nice and secure with their routine, but for now G is all about sleep... ahhhhh... glorious sleep.

Cry-It-Out

You may have noticed a distinct lack of posts since I’ve been back in Regina. To blame is the fact that the last three weeks have been filled with tears, nervous breakdowns and only the very occasional glimpse of a light at the end of the tunnel. I mean really, who wants to hear about me curled up in a ball on my bathroom floor weeping because my daughter won’t go to sleep and has gone back in time to be a four-month-old newborn? Anyway, it all came to a head last night when, after trying to get Gaia to sleep for over two hours, I finally succumbed to the lure of “cry-it-out”. I cuddled her until she was calm but awake and then put her in her bed, tucked a blanket around her, told her I loved her and left the room. After a mere fifteen minutes of crying she was fast asleep. It was 10:15pm. The rest of our night looked like this:

10:15pm-11:00pm – Sleep
11:00pm-11:07pm – Eat
11:08pm-11:13pm – Cry
11:13pm-4:56am – Sleep
4:57am-5:05am – Eat
5:06am-5:09am – Mildly Protest
5:10am-8:24am – Sleep
8:25am – Wake-Up Laughing – Eat Breakfast

Did I mention I’m in love with “cry-it-out”? What’s even better is when I got Gaia out of bed this morning I swear she looked proud of herself. The look was all “Geez Mama, this is so much better than you bouncing me while you weep! Clearly I am the Queen of Sleep and now that you've finally let me deal with my shit I am prepared to take over the world.” That being said, there is no way I would have been ready for this before this week. Like a junkie I needed to hit rock bottom before I could let all the attachment parenting stuff go and try a more moderate approach. In fact, I probably would have never considered it if not for my Mommy-friend who struggled for months with her daughter’s sleep habits and has written about it here. She is my personal pioneer in the field of "cry-it-out". She also wrote a post about the notion that letting your child ”cry-it-out” is about teaching them “who’s boss”. I get the impression she finds that as ludacris as I do. In our house one thing is for sure, Gaia is the boss. I’m just the head of continuing education.