Sleep training...

I never believed in the cry it out method of sleep training. Especially not when my son started standing up in his crib. At first he couldn't sit back down on his own and would cry until we came to get him. But once he was able to sit down, he still just stood there and shook the crib. The first night I tried to break the habit of his waking and me scooping him up and going to sleep with him, it took 2 hours to get him to go to sleep. After that I was exhausted. I went to bed, hoping that he would just stay asleep. I guess that was too much to hope for.

Two hours later he woke and I could hear him stand up in his crib. I waited. He started crying. I waited for about 30 seconds to see what he would do but it didn't sound like he would all of a sudden realize that he should be sleeping and lay back down. I got up and there he was, standing at the rails, waiting for me to pick him up and take him to the couch. He had another thing coming. I laid him down and he threw a fit. I wanted to pick him up but didn't. I rubbed his belly and went through the same motions as when I tried to put him to bed. This lasted a good hour and I was able to finally sneak out and go back to bed.

Two hours later, same thing. This happened all night long. When it was finally time to get up for real, he was standing in his crib. I made a big deal about it being morning and it was time to get up before I picked him up out of his crib. I was so tired and wondered how I would get through another night of this. Then I remembered that he had only recently started sleeping through the night before this hiccup so I had been doing this not too long ago. But at that time he wasn't getting up every 2 hours, just once for a night feeding.

He was so bright and cheerful when I got him up for the day. I was mad at him. Then I felt guilty. I had allowed this to happen. He is just a baby. I couldn't let him know that I was frustrated and tired. I just had to stick to my guns and be consistent.

I went to work and nearly fell asleep at my desk. When I got home, I had a lovely time with my angel. As bedtime grew nearer, I had a pit in my stomach. I got myself mentally together to give it another try...