We waited until Zara was about 7 months to even assemble the crib. We put it in Jamie's office/library. I assumed Zara would be co-sleeping for a while. Maybe past one year old. At first, I used the crib as a playpen. Lots of toys to play with. Later I would try to lay her down after she fell asleep in my arms after nursing. Sometimes the transition would wake her up.
Last week. On the eve of my 37th birthday, in fact. We decided to start "sleep-training" her. It brought back all the awful memories of "Ferber-izing" Sofia. The first night she cried for more than an hour before falling asleep. And then when she awoke after a couple of hours, we moved her to our bed. The next time it was about 20 minutes. But we still would get her in the middle of the night and co-sleep her. Over the next few nights, her crying jag varied from 45 minutes (on that night, we gave up and tried again after an hour) and 10 minutes.
Two nights ago, Jamie was out for the night for his usual D & D night. I put Sofia to bed and then stayed up with Zara for a little while longer. At 10:30, I nursed her, changed her diaper and into her sleep sack, nursed her a little more and swiftly but calmly placed her in her crib. I placed the lamp on the floor, so it was dimmer in the room and put the humidifier on HIGH.
I went into my scraproom, bracing myself for the crying jag. But it only last a few minutes! AND she slept til 4 AM. The longest period to date.
Last night, we made sure she was good and tired. Well-fed. Dry. So we didn't put her down til 11 or so. I nursed her. Handed her off to Jamie who changed her diaper and clothes. Rocked her and read her Runaway Bunny. She feel asleep in his arms. Cried for 10 seconds after Jamie raised the crib railing. That darn loud click! And then fell asleep! She cried for a minute sometime during the night but self-soothed.
And now as I am writing these words I am only hearing her again. It is now 7:36 AM. Woot!
Sleeping through the night at 8 months and 3 weeks. In her own crib. It's a good thing.
3 comments:
Congratulations on that! Why is this one of the hardest things (emotionally) we have to do as parents?! Our Sofi is 7 months and we are still co-sleeping. HOPING to make that change to her bed sometime soon as well so we all sleep better.
If I was designing a crib the first thing I'd do is make sure the click is quiet.
You have no idea how much I needed to read this...Ethan is 4.5 months old and still sleeps in his swing during the day and co-sleeps in the middle of the night. He's been waking up a lot lately and I am so ready for him to sleep in his crib and self soothe! There is hope!
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