Saturday, September 12, 2009

Waahhh Waahhh Waahhh

I'm trying it girls. Right now at this very moment I am trying to let Caleb self soothe himself to sleep. In fact we have been trying for the last 45 minutes. I have checked on him and calmed him down 3 times now, I have white noise in the background, and he is swaddled. I am sitting in the living room with the monitor watching the lights go up and down as my little man crys. Right when I think he has finally dosed off the lights will spike to the top once more. This is hard hard hard!!! I am trying to not give in and go pick him up but it breaks my heart to hear my little boy cry!!! How many nights does it normally take babies to get used to self soothing themselves? I am trying to begin a regular bedtime routine. Bath, lotion massage, put on pj's, read a book, eat, go to sleep. Your comments from my post last night really helped so if any of you have any words of encouragement/any tips to make self soothing easier I would greatly appreciate it!

8 comments:

Lindsay said...

I have read your blog for a couple weeks now, but have never commented before but I had to comment on this one! I know it's hard......really hard...but it is worth it and it will work, just hang in there! It is the best thing you can do for him! My suggestion would be to try and busy yourself when he is crying so you don't sit and watch the clock, even if you just get in the shower so you can't hear him. It can take a long time the first couple of times, I mean like over an hour, but every time it should get shorter and shorter. I would say that you might have 3-5 nights of heart-wrenching crying...but I have done this with 3 kids (one was my niece who was used to being rocked to sleep) and it has worked every time! Now all 3 kids I can just lay down and the go right to sleep!

Be encouraged, you are doing the right thing!

Katie said...

Your little guy is precious. ; )

Thank you for praying for us!

Meant to be a mom said...

I've never experienced this one yet but my best friend just went through it and I remember he saying the exact same thing you are. She was upset at having to sit and listen to her baby girl cry while she did nothing. I'm happy to report though that now a couple weeks later things are great and no more long crying sprees from her baby. She's self soothing just perfectly. I hope he starts to calm down soon. Bless your heart that has to be hard!

Unknown said...

Thank you girls you are encouraging me. I have to admit that I eventually gave in last night after an hour. However, after reading Lindsey's comment I know that it is normal to take that long. I will not give in again.

The Bells said...

I say, if you feel like giving in....do it! You're his mom and know him better than anyone else. We tried "crying it out" earlier and it did NOT work. After TWO, loooonnnggg weeks, my little boy was still crying for 2+ hours. So, we abandoned that plan. We waited until he was a little older and then tried it again. Worked much better this time! Good luck to you. He's adorable. I love the pic at the top of your blog with his little wrinkled forehead ;)

Paige said...

I just came upon your blog from another I'm also from Kentucky and have met a lot of wonderful ladies on here!. First of all, congrats on your baby boy! He is adorable!! Crying it out, really never worked for me until around 4-5 months! I hope you get some good luck with it soon! But if you want to pick that baby up and give in, then do it girl! =) He is all yours to spoil rotten!

Carrie said...

It is hard. It breaks your heart to hear him screaming in the other room. All you want to do is scoop him up to get him to stop crying. Parker screamed for long periods many nights as well...which started me crying (again). Looking back, I can say it was all worth it.

Maybe he is crying so much because he is over tired? Have you tried putting him to bed a little earlier...say 9 or 10? Maybe he isn't getting enough sleep during the day? I think it says (somewhere in baby wise) that the better they nap during the day, the better they sleep at night...but don't quote me on that!

Totally speculating, just offering suggesting :)

If all else fails, call your mom and cry on her shoulder. It always makes me feel better.

Someone else commented on busying yourself and not staring at the monitor. Excellent suggestion.

You're doing great.

Julie said...

Any chance he's experiencing gas pains? My kids, especially my first, dealt with that. They sell these awesome Mylicon (spelling?) or Little Tummies drops (buy which ever is cheaper, they work the same) at the store... and a tiny bit works WONDERS! It's safe on newborns.
My kids didn't cry it out until about 3 months old.... but whatever works for you :)
He's adorable... and I've enjoyed your blog. I'm expecting #4 in about 10 weeks!
Hang in there, you're doing great!
Julie D.