so last night was our second night in the letting her cry it out experiment. It was a disaster. Around 12:30 am, Ada woke up, and we of course, let her cry. And she cried and cried and cried. So much so that I was beginning to cry a little myself. It was just the worst feeling to hear her cry so hard and not go in there and comfort her. I hated it. And this time she was crying much harder and louder. Plus, she cried for almost an hour and a half. At this point, the crying was not letting up, so I finally went in there. She took some of her bottle but not much. I put her back down, and she woke up twice more. Finally, after rocking her a little bit, we all went to bed for the night at 2:30 am. Not a good night!! Scott and I are both very tired today, and I am unsure about what to do. I need some feedback. Is there a time limit on the crying it out, or should I not have gone in there when I did? I was just so exhausted--and heartbroken--after an hour and a half.
On a happier note, Scott and I were inspired by the Slagley blog, to gather up all of our loose change and take it to the coin machine at Publix. We thought it would only be like 5-10 dollars total, but hey, that would pay for several happy hour diet cokes. It turned out that all of those pennies added up to 30.00, so we are going out for an unexpected Mexican dinner. Yea!! And thanks for the suggestion, Slagleys!!
10 comments:
Laura Beth,
We had to let Claire cry it out after she turned 1 because she was still waking up 4-5 times a night. It was getting insane and Russell and I were going crazy from sleep deprivation!! The first week was a nightmare - to the point where Russell had to go in another room and turn on the TV to keep from going crazy from hearing our baby cry for so long. The first night Claire cried for almost 3 hours straight!! Each night got a little better. But after a week, she was sleeping through the night for 12 hours straight!!! The best advice I can give you is DO NOT GO IN THE ROOM!!! Our doctor told us this and it really helps. The more you go in there, the worse it makes it once you leave again. It is one of the hardest things you'll ever do - but hang in there!! All three of you will feel better once Ada can sleep through the night!! Email me if you want more info on what we had to do....lyndseymccrory@msn.com
GOOD LUCK!!!
Ok we JUST went through this so I totally understand. I will say first of all that the first 3 nights were the worst and then it kinda clicked with Hannah and she has been a great sleeper ever since. Leah did not take to the CIO thing. I will let her cry, but go in there periodically to reassure her. She would cry or 8 hours if she could. I do not pick her up, but I will pat her and give her a pacifier. I kept letting the time between visits get longer. This works for Leah. However, if I go in there when Hannah cries out it makes it worse. So if she wakes up at night I cannot do anything. Each kid is different, so do what you think is best. But I do feel like if you can make it a week then you will be in the clear. I would not give in to her though. No bottles or rocking (and I cried too about this because a mom has the need to tend to her crying child). I promise it gets better.
Except for a phase here and there which I think they go through, they both sleep through the night and I no longer have to go in there at all.
Hannah now sleeps from 8pm-9ish am
Leah goes down around 8 and sleeps til 6, but will come to bed with me and sleep until Hannah wakes up. She has always been an early riser.
Good luck!!
I'm sorry about the stressful nights! Obviously, I don't have any advice. I was just going to let you know that I've begun a painting for over your couch. I just hope its what you want. It was an experiment because its pretty different from what I normally do. I think I'm going to like it though.
I'm so sorry y'all had such a rough night. I can imagine that it's awful listening to your child cry like that. I've heard that if you let them do it for three nights, after that they learn that it doesn't work to get you in there anymore. I don't know for sure with Ada because obviously, each kid deals with things differently. I'll pray for you guys. I've also heard that sometimes the stronger of the parents has to handle it while the other does something to relax like take a bath or something. Good luck!
LB, We have been going through the same thing with Sadie! I never in a million years realized how hard it was to hear your baby cry and know that there was nothing you could do but let her cry it out. Now, Sadie is only 2 1/2 weeks old but she seems to know that she doesn't like her bed and would rather be held!! I have a feeling that it is going to be much harder the older she gets and we are going to be in the same situation you are as far as letting her cry it out for long periods of time. I will be praying for you dear, I know that this is such a trying time. But as everyone says if you can get through it, it will be so worth it!!!! Keep running the race!!! Love you!!! (Sorry I rambled so much, I am going on 4 hours of sleep...sweet Sadie decided to keep us up again last night!!!)
thanks for the advice everyone. I really, really helps to hear what everyone else did!! Last night she slept all night--hallelujah, but that could have just been a fluke. Who knows.
Sarah--I am so excited!! Just when I find the right color for my walls, you are going to paint something! It's all coming together:)
LB- glad you had a better night after this post! I am sorry she had such a rough night! It is miserable to hear them so upset- and it drove Brandon CRAZY! I just had to explain to him that if we didn't do it then, I was going to be the one crying all night long! It definitely takes a week or so- my pediatrician told me it takes around 4-5 days to establish a habit for babies. But, she said that however long the crying or hard- DO NOT GO IN THERE! Kate would lose (throw) her paci and I told my Dr. I needed to give it back to her, but she said Kate was just doing that to see me come in and pick it up. So, she said that if you eventually go in each time, they just learn to cry until you come which sounded horribly manipulative for such a little kid, but it is true. That is where the earplugs came in!
On a happier note- so glad you cashed in your pennies! What a treat! We are so excited about our extra spending money too! It is amazing what extra change turns into. Hope you enjoy the meal from it!
w/ the naps being off too i would bet she might be gooing through a 'wonder week'... i swear every mommy should have that book. it is so helpful to know that there are special developemental reasons behind periods of fussy/clingy/neediness!!
We just went through this with David. We did it in 2 stages. Stage 1 involved cutting out the bottle. We would still go in and rock him to sleep but NO food. We did that for 2 weeks. Now we do the cry it out and not even rock to sleep. The longest he has cried for is 2 hours. Now, it usually takes an hour (after about 1 week). I'm hoping it gets better. We have a video monitor and we just watch him and he stands up and screams and it is SO hard. We turn off the sound and try to sleep though it (though we can still hear him). Good luck!!
I forgot to say, a video monitor is wonderful. You can still see that your little one is ok without having to go in the room. It eases the pain of 'doing nothing' while they are crying.
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