C.I.O.

The subject (again) is sleeping through the night. Can you tell we think about this a lot?  Could be worse, we could be talking about poop all the time....

With Huelan, we were pretty lucky.  We documented her first few months fairly well, and our records indicate that at three months, she was consistently sleeping from 11PM through until 6AM- all we could ask for.  We haven't been so lucky with Vansen (which has been well-explored in a previous post), BUT, we've gotten close a number of times.  He commonly does 9:30 to 3:30, which is pretty good, and even did 10-4 one night, which works great for our weird schedule.

What we've *been* doing when he wakes in the middle of the night is nursing (by "we" I mean Liz) or bottle feeding him to get him back to sleep.  He's learned to expect it. Need it maybe? Well, we're pretty confident that there is no physical need for nourishment overnight, so last night we tried the Cry It Out method for the first time.  

In theory, the baby slowly realizes that he doesn't need to eat at night and eventually just sleeps through til after we've had our coffee.  This, however, takes a little time- it's not called Cry It Out because everyone sleeps peacefully through the night. 

The first night was not easy.  We have to resist the natural urge to go and sooth him when we hear that first soft cry, which last night was about 2:30.  Over the next 45 minute, he would work his way through 4-5 distinct types of cry, each progressively more fervent than the last.  All the while, Liz and I would lie fully awake, wondering exactly how large the psychic scars would be.  He'd stop crying and we'd feel some vindication, only to take a deep, audible breath and start in again more fiercely.  At one point, we were both lying there in bed, in the dark, our faces lit pale blue by iPhone glow, as Liz scanned the internet for articles justifying going in there to soothe him, while I scanned for counter articles saying it was okay to let him go til he tired out.  The conflict added to the already tortuous wailing.   

How much longer? What if he's hungry? What if he's cold? What if he's scared? As we alternated between consoling one another and psyching each other up to do nothing, he just stopped.  And slept til 7:15. 

I'm sure tonight will be different. Maybe we'll be more rational about letting him Cry It Out. Maybe he'll suprise us and just sleep through. Maybe I'll have my articles queued up before I go to bed.