Friday, November 2, 2012

Sleep at 4 months

I've been struggling so much trying to figure out with what to do about Micaela's naps and falling asleep before bed. We have been blessed with a baby that has actually been able to sleep 8-10hour stretches at night since about 3months. Naps are ok in length. There is a major problem though...she is completely dependent on me to soothe her to sleep. She nurses then falls asleep then continues to nurse to stay asleep. The minute I try to lay her in her crib she wakes. At night it takes about 30 to 45minutes until she falls in deep sleep then I can lay her down. What's nice is she stays down for night but not for naps. Since she was born I've never been able to lay her down drowsy. She never fell asleep by herself on the stroller or car seat or swing like all other babies seemed to do. I had to nurse then rock her to sleep. From 0 to 3 months you are suppose to do whatever to soothe babies so we did! Countless hours of shhhing and bouncing and rocking and swaddling! Now Micaela is 4 months and nothing has changed. I must say I truly love her taking naps on me but I know that I am going to go back to work in  a month and my mom wont be able to nurse her! hahah.

Ive been doing a ton of research and asking lots of mommies about sleep training. Moms swear by it! The goal is to lay your baby down awake when it is time to sleep or nap, you then walk away. They should be able to fall asleep on their own..ofcourse there will be some tears initially but eventually the tears are gone and babies can soothe themselves to sleep. The most highly recommended book was the sleep-easy solution. It is technically a cry it out method with check-ins. They guarantee your baby to be sleeping better in 3 days. I listened to the audio and even read the book...I discussed the pro's and cons with Dennis and thought it through over and over again. The thought of letting Micaela cry goes against all I believe in...I mean Im her mommy and Im suppose to take careof her and soothe her...not allow her to suffer or cry. The book has a whole chapter dedicated to the idea that the crying is their way of soothing themselves and has no impact on them psychologically. I am going to try this and see how it goes...

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