Exhausted that is.I have posted before about Desi's sleep issues. He has never been much of a sleeper, and rarely goes down without a fight. At 18 months, it is still not uncommon for him to be up 3 times in one night, crying for someone. He did sleep from 10 p.m. til 5 a.m. two nights in a row recently. Sweet Jesus, what great sleep that was.
Back on point, I have noticed a disturbing new trend in communication styles over this issue with my husband . It seems as if our competitive natures have chiseled out a new game between us.
It's the passive -aggressive version of "Who is more exhausted?" or also known as, "Who is more over-worked?" or "Who has the right to sit this one out?"
Does anyone else play this game with their fellow child-rearer? I am still not 100% clear on the rules.
10 comments:
Have you let him cry it out?
Left alone in a crib to cry by himself? no. We have never used a crib. Desi has his own queen size bed, and he has been left to cry while a parent slept nearby (or tried to sleep). I don't think I would be very good at the old fashioned crying it out. Too much of a softy.
Cry-it-out is the only/best way to resolve ALL sleep issues. I speak from experience. We did it with Asher at 3 months. It was a harrowing hour of screaming, but he went down without incident after that. Occasionally, his sleep habits get interrupted (by travel, a sleep-over at grandparents' house, an illness), and we need to let him cry it out all over again. But usually, a cry-it-out session is good for 3-6 months of bliss.
"Cry-it-out is the only/best way to resolve ALL sleep issues"
Spoken like the true parent of an only child :) After having 4 kids and working in childcare for over ten years, I really scoff at the idea of any one, best solution for all children.
fortunately, the resurgence of truly bad sleep of last week seems to have been short lived. I'll pass on the cry it out method.
Have you let him cry it out?
Is this person for real????
Gee anon, I wonder who you could be? lol
Sorry that was me... I was so shocked by what I read I did not even sign my own name.
More on my thoughts of letting an infant cry it out to follow.
An infant does not have the capacity to feed themself, change themself or take care of any of his own physical needs, why on Earth should an infant be expected to be able to comfort themself? I strongly believe parenting by instinct; this comes naturally to Mother esp. The reason it is so hard to let them cry it out is because your body goes through a series of physiological changes when you hear your baby cry. (or in some cases even other babies cry) This is why Mothers have a “letdown” of their milk and an overwhelming urge to pick their crying baby up. If you train yourself to ignore your baby's cries, you break that bond and The Mothers body stops responding in that way.
And think about it, Your sweet baby stops crying because he/she has given up hope of anyone coming to his aid. How sad is that?? The baby has not learned to comfort themself; he has only learned that he/she is not worth being responded to. :(
Sunny
Isaac, meet my friend Sunny, lol. She's passionate and enjoys nothing better than stirring debate. Its her favorite past time, but I told her probably wouldn't bite.
Fair enough, Shannon. I do readily admit that there are many ways to skin this cat. And further, if you haven't guessed it, I love to engage in hyperbole ("only/best").
Sunny - There's a difference between letting an infant (3+ months old) cry it out just after they've been fed, and making them cry it out when they're honestly hungry.
My sweet baby knows he's worth responding to. He also knows that there's a time for sleep, and a time for play. Friends who have not taught their children that are still spending 3 hours putting them to bed when they're 18 months old.
I would venture a guess that anyone spending three hours putting their 18 month old to bed has a lot of parenting issues they need to work on other than the cry-it-out debate!
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