Crying it out update

We started letting Jackson cry it out a few weeks ago.  You can read about night 1 here, and nights 2 and 3 here.

Well to be honest, I'm not sure we did this right.  For the first week or so we would feed him and then lay him down sleepy and he would cry for about 15-20 minutes and then fall asleep.  It was working really well.  The part that wasn't improving was his night time waking.  He would still wake up around 1am or 2am and fuss for over an hour until we gave him a bottle. 

I know, I know he should be able to make it all night without a bottle, but he's only 10.5 months old and I feel like if he wakes up he just might be hungry so I'm gonna give him a bottle.  We don't get him out of his bed, we just let him drink it himself in his bed and he falls right back to sleep and will sleep until morning. 

Last night was different.  He slept until 5am, I gave him his bottle and then he slept until 7:30.  I know I've probably created a new bad habit of letting him fall asleep drinking his bottle, but I don't really care right now. 

The way I see it, he never would take a pacifier so he needs something to soothe himself.  I'll probably regret it in a few months when we try and get rid of the bottle, but for now this is working for us.  We are all getting a good nights rest and we're all happy. 

This may sound bad, but I am soooo relieved to not be rocking him to sleep anymore.  Rocking him was like a wrestling match. I would seriously break a sweat, while trying to keep him in a cradled position to rock him to sleep.  I'm so thankful to be past that stage of his life.

So anyway that's how it's going for now.  Of course, I'll keep ya'll updated on any changes. 

And just for your viewing pleasure, I'll send you off with a little bit of cuteness!!!

Have a GREAT day!!

crying it out {night 2 &3}

Night 2:

Brent was feeding Jackson his bed time bottle at 7:15 and he was so tired he fell asleep while eating. Brent put him to bed.

At about 8:10 he cried for about 2 minutes, then fell back to sleep.

Then he slept THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!

He woke up a little on the early side at 6:15.

Night 3:

He had a later than normal nap from 3-4, so we let him stay up later. At around 9:00 he was acting tired so I gave him his bottle and he got pretty drowsy, but never actually fell asleep. I laid him down, fully expecting a crying, screaming meltdown fit, but I got the exact opposite.

He hardly made a peep.

Just a few little fussy sounds and then nothing. Surely he hasn't already figured this out. Isn't this supposed to take at least a week of crying nights. I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much. Every night I get the feeling that tonight will be the bad screaming for hours type night.

I feel like I sort of have my evenings back to myself now. I'm praying he continues to adjust easily. I will update you in a week or so and let you how it's going.

crying it out {night 1}

Ok, so I never really had a problem with rocking my babies and letting them sleep in our bed when they woke in the middle of the night.  I guess with my older age(ahem almost 29) I feel extra exhausted with Jackson's unpredictable sleeping schedule.

Lately we have been rocking and putting him down between 7 and 8. He was sleeping until midnight or 2am, we would give him a bottle and he would go right back to sleep with us, in our bed(I know it's dangerous). As a working mother that gave me the sleep I needed to function, and to be honest I didn't mind it at all.

But things have changed!

He has been waking up about an hour after we put him down. He is waking up at midnight and 4 a.m. and wanting to stay awake. He's just not getting the sleep we think he needs and neither are we.

I told Brent Friday night that now is the time to do this, since I am out for summer break. So we went for it.

It was a killer.

Night 1:

I still rocked him and put him down at 7:15. He woke up at 8. I went in his room and rubbed his back and shushed him for about a minute and left him in his bed. This only infuriated him. Poor little guy. He screamed for another ten-ish minutes and I went in again to soothe him, and again he calmed down while I rubbed his back, but started screaming again when I left him.

We followed this pattern and at 9:15 while Brent was taking his turn soothing, Jackson finally gave up and fell asleep.

I don't understand how he had the energy to cry for that long, but all in all it went better and quicker than I expected.

I hate the soothing part because it only seems to upset him more, but I understand the need for it. I want him to understand that we are still around and that he hasn't been abandoned.

He woke up crying at 1:30, so I let him cry for a little while and then went in to soothe him. I left the room and looked at the clock and told myself I would go back in at 1:45 if he was still up. I fell asleep and woke up at 3:00 and all was silent.

I had turned the monitor off, but we can still hear him cry. I thought I wouldn't be able to fall asleep while he was crying but I must have been too exhausted.

Jackson woke up crying again at 4:00. This time was a little harder on him. He has been waking up at 4am lately ready to be up and playing, acting like it's morning time.

Brent went in and soothed him this time. I must have passed out again around 5 because I woke up at 6:30 when Brent's alarm went off, and again all was quiet.

Jackson woke up at 7:30 and I couldn't wait to go in and get him up. He was so happy to see me. He didn't act like he hated me or anything.

So all in all our first night was not bad. I was pleasantly surprised.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post about night 2 & 3!!