7.7.09

Line em up

Dear Diary,

Edwin is in his crib for a nap right now. In order for him not to scream much like one might if one were possessed by satan, I have to trick him and lay him in there after he has fallen asleep in my arms. When he wakes up and realizes he's been duped, he screams much like one might if one were possessed by satan. Not an ideal situation by any means. But we haven't started formal sleep/crib training yet (soon! we will start soon!) and I don't want to spend my whole morning and afternoon getting him to fall asleep in his crib. Right? Right.

And about the sleep training. I don't mention the sleeping "problem" much anymore, because it's not so much his problem as it is ours. He has no problem; he sleeps great. He's got a VIP room at the Radisson with turndown service and a free, self-replenishing mini bar. I'm the one with the problem. I know that teaching him to sleep in his crib will result in some satan-like screaming and writhing and pathetic red-faced pleas for MAMAMAMAMAMA!!! and I just can't take it. I'm too lazy to be consistent, especially because I know that bringing him into our bed will result in peaceful sleep for all of us. And that face, when he stands up in his crib and that red little tear-stained face is begging, BEGGING me to pick him up and console him... I just don't have it in me. "Steely resolve" is not one of my attributes.

Everyone has something that worked for their kid. And it seems like many parents forget how horrible it was, the road their baby had to take to reach independent sleep. We haven't found that something yet that works, and the few times I've tried to get him to sleep in there are burned in my memory.

No point here, really. Except that we need to sleep train Edwin. I am not the "family bed" type and I never intended him to sleep with us at all, let alone for 9 months. And I'm not looking forward to it and I've been putting it off for months. The BHE poo poos the use of any particular "method", arguing that all babies are different, they are not dogs you can train and no doctor really knows what the hell they're talking about with regards to sleep issues. He's the one who's probably going to end up doing it, the "training", while I sit at the corner bar and drink margaritas.

These babies.

Love,
Fluffy

4 comments:

Kate said...

From someone who spent last night on the couch with her baby in a bouncy seat next to her, I can identify. The one thing my doctor said to me that made us get on the stick with the sleep training for the first kid (which worked for quite a while, until it didn't) was that if you don't take care of it by 6 months, that baby will be making your life miserable for a very long time. So we did the Ferber thing, which is really not so bad at all (except for you, the parent). You go back in there often enough that you don't feel like you are just abandoning him.

But actually, you're kind of lucky - neither of my babies will sleep in the bed with us; they get too restless. And I wouldn't mind the snuggling.

Bailey said...

We did the Sleep Easy Solution (which is a little Ferber and a little Weissbluth and a little every other sleep training methodology) and it worked great but did require a little bit of steely resolve. The first night we had to listen to 45 minutes of screaming but the second night, only 3. We've had to go back to it recently since Ava likes to stand in her crib and scream but it's been well worth it.

Regardless of method of sleep training, I recommend starting on a Friday night and having some good wine or beer in the house. The first night I put Ava down and walked right to the kitchen and poured myself a glass of wine.

Good luck!

Anonymous said...

it's been years since i've ben in your shoes but man it is tough. i towed (toed) the line of moderation. you can't train them like automatons, but you can set schedules.
i'll be joining you in a margarita this week while my bizarre-o in-laws are in town.

La Rivera said...

I think the baby sleep issue is definitely one of the toughest ones for the mamas. Hang in there... one night it'll just click. Really.