I had "the night" last night. The night where the baby screams for an hour and nothing will make him stop...or sleep.
I knew he was tired and I first put him in the crib. He was fussy whining (and probably would have quit eventually), but I thought I could find something he'd like better, so I picked him up. Wrong.
The next hour was a series of different positions; carrier, no carrier, other carrier? Paci, no paci. Walking slowly, walking quickly, walking outside. Bouncing, shaking (me...from my legs...trying to recreate vibration), rocking. Swaddle, no swaddle? He had just eaten and burped.) I really don't think he was sick or gassy...just tired.
I tried the oven vent. He quieted down immediately! But it only lasted 5 minutes.
In total, it lasted just over an hour and then he slept for over 10 hours like my normal easy baby.
I think he knew that I was all alone last night. My dad and his girlfriend had stayed with us all week and had just gone home. Daddy had to take a client to a club. Yes, he was clubbing! (He doesn't really enjoy it...but he's still gone...till LATE!).
But this whole thing has sprung some questions in my head re:cry it out. I see over and over that people believe CIO is cruel. (I don't believe so, but plan to avoid if I can...not crying is easier.) But wasn't Dylan crying the entire time anyway? I'm pretty sure that if I had let him be at the very beginning, that he would've fallen asleep with no escalation...or with even a minor escalation...within about 15 minutes. Was it more humane that he instead cried for an hour...most of which was in my arms? He sure wasn't comforted by me!
That is all. Deep thoughts done.
This is totally how we ended up CIO! He would scream and scream no matter what we did before bedtime, finally it was like "HE'S CRYING ANYWAY, let's put him in the crib!" I think people who are really against CIO have babies that never cry or soothe easy and that's why they think it's cruel. They don't understand babies that scream their faces off even if you're holding them!
ReplyDeleteI didn't do CIO until A was around 10 months. I usually nursed him to sleep and that always worked. If he ever had a spaz attack cry, it was due to something (tummy, teeth).
ReplyDeleteMaybe teeth?
We are dealing with this now. Cooper likes his paci to fall asleep but he can't keep it in his mouth so I have to HOLD it. If I have to hold it for him for a couple mins, that's fine, but sometimes no matter when I take it out he immediately starts crying. I can't stand there all night! So I will try to let him cry some. I stay with him and just stroke his head (while he lays in his crib) or I will just leave the room for a while. It's a guessing game and I just try my best to help him without holding him before I leave him to cry. I hate hearing it...
ReplyDeleteI am toying with CIO right now...but for nap time. Daniel usually goes down pretty easily, but I am rocking him until he's asleep which I know will have to stop sooner rather than later. I've done 5 minutes CIO so far and it does break my heart, but I can't keep rocking him until he's in a deep sleep, and I can't keep putting him in the swing (or my arms) to nap all the time.
ReplyDeleteYour 10 hour sleeps are AWESOME! I'm getting about 8..which means we wake up around 3/4 and then go back down until 6:30/7. I'd really like to drop that 3/4 wake up but I'm not sure how :(