Eli has gotten a lot better with napping these days. In fact the other day, to my shock, he took a 1 1/2 hour nap in the morning, a 2 hour nap around lunch, and then another 30 minute nap later that afternoon. WOW! Of course, that must have been a fluke, because it hasn't happened like that again, BUT we do see progress. I lay him down when he's in that semi-awake/semi-asleep stage and then leave the room. Most of the time, sleep overtakes his little body and he goes right to sleep. NOT YESTERDAY! I laid him down and before I could make it out the door of his bedroom, he had popped his little head up and was making his way to the side of the crib. I really wanted him to lay down, so I didn't go back and pick him up. I told him "Night-Night" and then left. For the next 10 minutes, I waited. I wanted him to try to put himself down; needless to say, THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN! For those of you that have tried this particular method of sleep training, you know it is not fun. I don't know if my son ever will be able to put himself down, especially after he has worked himself up so much. Please look at what I found when I walked in his room 10 minutes later...
Obviously, you see the very upset child. Don't worry I scooped him up and smothered him in kisses after this picture. (My heart obviously can't take crying it out). Note in the picture above what used to be a mobile and apparently he folded his bumper pad into a new shape.
If he was left any longer, I'm sure he would have figured out how to completely disassemble the mobile and the bumper pads. Obviously, we're going to have to find a solution to napping on days like this.
Obviously, you see the very upset child. Don't worry I scooped him up and smothered him in kisses after this picture. (My heart obviously can't take crying it out). Note in the picture above what used to be a mobile and apparently he folded his bumper pad into a new shape.
I never could go through with the crying out method either so don't feel bad:)
ReplyDeleteI'll admit it: we tried it. Drew was about 6 months old,and I was desperate for sleep-for all of us! It was horrible. Granted, a handful of times he cried only 2-3 min and went to sleep. But other times he would wail for 30-45 min. I just couldn't do it. It felt so wrong and went against all my mommy instincts. I later read that some children RELEASE tension by crying and can then go to sleep. Other kids (like OURS) build UP tension while crying! So crying it out wouldn't work well for our active boys. And you know what? No CIO and I have a good sleeper now. :) Hang in there! It'll happen more frequently--when you least expect it!
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