All the variables kill me. Was it: the change in scenery? The developmental stage? The head cold he got? The onset of separation anxiety? Going to sleep too late? Too early? Too much napping during the day? Too little? The pajamas (the things on the feet would bug me!)? Socks? No socks? 74°? 68°? 78°? Head toward the door? Head toward the window? Go to sleep with paci? No paci? Noise machine? No noise machine? Night light? No night light? Can he hear Louis snoring? Should we use the ceiling fan or a small fan near his crib? Whatever it was, suddenly my good sleeper was no more. He *would not* sleep in his crib for anything. Ever. Which was fine when I had nothing to do, but when mom is trying to get ready for 30+ guests or work at Sunshine School, it is no bueno.
We three slept in our queen bed every night for over a month. Its hard to gear yourself up for any kind of sleeplessness when you've had months of 10 hour nights, so we took the easy (albeit uncomfortable) route for a good while. Eventually we bit the bullet and decided to start sleep training. Of course cry-it-out sounded like the worst thing every so we started with the "Sleep Lady Shuffle", but Carter wanted no part of that. It failed miserably. It might have been easier had we started before he was so aware of us, but at this point seeing us sitting next to the crib fueled a meltdown for the record books. He cried harder than I have ever seen. So we gave up & all got in bed :) We asked our pediatrician and he told us that he had heard the most success from cry-it-out. And when we were ready to try sleep training again, that's what we did. And it worked. Much better than we thought and much better than the SLS. He cried like someone was hurting him for 90 minutes before we gave in during the SLS, & for maybe 40 minutes with CIO ranging from whimpers to full on crying. And now less than a week in he is putting himself to sleep for bedtime & naps with <10 minutes of fussing. And he'll sleep for an hour minimum at nap time & 11ish hours at night. He had never ever put himself down - he had to be 100% asleep & then I'd carefully, 1cm at a time move him to his crib. I know people who love SLS & I'm glad it worked for them, it is certainly easier on mommy's nerves, but our stubborn boy would not give up while he could see us! Regardless, glad something worked! We are all happier & better rested for it!
I am still a little worried because God was kind to us and gave us one of the most easy going children of all time. Besides being a cruddy nurser & eater in general, he hasn't given us much trouble. Well there is the copious amounts of spitup I dealt with. I haven't seen another child who rivals him in that. A few come close. But seriously? A load of laundry daily is welcomed since I have such a happy guy. Which means... Either he's going to hit a real rough phase later, or we might as well call the next one Ike or Katrina 'cause (s)he'll be a hurricane. I feel like with Carter's pregnancy all I worried about was health. Mine & his, then & in the future. But now looking at getting pregnant again, I'm worried about personality!! What about you, mom friends? Did you worry more or less the second time? Did you pray for health? Smarts? Smiles? Good sleeper?
