Awhile ago I posted mentioning that I was trying to get Yorlee out of our bed. Well, I'm STILL trying. The problem is that I have to commit to it. I have a love/hate relationship with co sleeping.
The pros are:
- Love being able to cuddle with my princess.
- Love being able to soothe her without either of us waking up.
- Love looking down at her sweet face.
- Love being able to spend time with her after working all day.
The cons are:
- Not being able to get a good nights sleep.
- Not being able to pull my covers up around my shoulders (I keep then waist level so that she can't pull them over her head.)
- Not being able to cuddle with my husband (Yorlee doesn't just sleep with me, she pretty much sleeps ON me. She has to be right next to me, pressed up against me to sleep.)
- Not having any time to myself.
- Her not being able to sooth herself.
- She has to nurse herself to sleep.
I'm sure there are more pros and cons that I can't recall at the moment.
After scouring the internet for advice, my husband and I finally decided to let her cry it out. It was horrible! We only lasted 30 minutes, and that felt like forever. The books/experts recommend a full hour. But it was such an exhausting experience. I'm not sure if we'll try again.
Something has to change though. We've tried nearly everything; warming up a blanket to place in her crib before laying her down, colorful toys that sing, placing her in her crib after she's sleep, rubbing/patting her back, etc. She sleeps soundly at daycare, which boggles my mind. Well, really it doesn't. I'm not there with her and she knows that, so I think she has the self soothing capability, but doesn't exercise it at home. She also sleeps in her Rock & Play sleeper at daycare.
She also has started waking up numerous times at night, which I attribute to teething. But it's the same time every night, and it takes her about two hours to go back to sleep. We've implemented a solid night time routine, in the hopes that it'll help get her back on track. But I'm exhausted...
7 comments:
Too funny that you posted this as I'm working on a post similar (again!) of my own!!!
We FINALLY got out of the recliner and are now co-sleeping in bed! It is worlds better than the chair but not where we need to be ultimately but for now it works for us.
I tried to do the ferber method of CIO and it broke my heart! (and obvioulsy didn't work)
I know sleep troubles suck! We did the gentle cry it out method where we checked on her every 5 minutes but didn't pick her up and on her worst night she cried for half an hour. I was dying. But I know we were lucky b/c if it had gone on any longer I would have given up! Now though...she puts herself to sleep in the crib without a fuss (zero crying for the past week!) and naps too. Maybe try again in a few weeks? Good luck! Let us know what finally works for you guys!
Since she is more attached to you....have your husband put her to bed. This is how we got Remi out of our bed. Hubby would have to put him to bed because if Remi knew I was 'there' - hed cry for me.
So tonight - you go sit on the couch..hand her over to hubby, have hubby cuddle with her for a bit then have him lay her down for the night. Let her cry for 30 mins but have HUBBY check on her every 5-10 mins..NOT YOU - if she sees you, hears you - she'll cry for you. So with this type of thing, daddy needs to do it 'cause babies are more attached to mom then dad - therefore it will be easier if dad puts them down
Good luck! We're trying to just put her down drowsy-- if she wakes up all the way, pick her up and soothe her back to drowsy again. Over and over until she falls asleep. Of course, we aren't weaning off of bedsharing, but just trying to get her to fall asleep on her own (since she goes to bed about an hour or 2 before we do). I don't know if it's working yet, but I'll let you know if it does!
Wish I had something deep to share, but we're still trying to get Ariana to fall asleep on her own. Last night I nursed her to sleep only to have her awaken an hour later. Finally, Richard put her to bed and rubbed her head... and she fell asleep on her own. We'll see if he can get her to do it again tonight.
I believe in Attachment Parenting, so CIO would never work for us, but I do agree that a mama needs her sleep. Co-sleeping works for some, but not for all. I felt guilty (and still do sometimes) about not co-sleeping past the newborn stage, but in all honesty, every single one of us sleeps better when we sleep in our own beds. What works for us is, I put Lucy to bed, sometimes she nurses to sleep, sometimes I rock her to sleep. But, if she wakes in the middle of the night, Jake checks on her. Most of the time she'll fall back to sleep quickly, but if he thinks she needs to nurse (usually after about 5 minutes of her fussing & him trying to soothe her) I go to her room & nurse her back to sleep in there. It might take some time for her to get used to your hubby checking on her and he'll probably be exhausted, but it really is the best way to do it, if co-sleeping is becoming too exhausting. You shouldn't feel guilty, her daddy can offer her the comfort she needs as well, it will just take some time for her to get used to him soothing her. Hope that helps! We're suffering from sleepless nights here too (Jake is away for 2 weeks), so I can sympathize with you!
I believe in Attachment Parenting, so CIO would never work for us, but I do agree that a mama needs her sleep. Co-sleeping works for some, but not for all. I felt guilty (and still do sometimes) about not co-sleeping past the newborn stage, but in all honesty, every single one of us sleeps better when we sleep in our own beds. What works for us is, I put Lucy to bed, sometimes she nurses to sleep, sometimes I rock her to sleep. But, if she wakes in the middle of the night, Jake checks on her. Most of the time she'll fall back to sleep quickly, but if he thinks she needs to nurse (usually after about 5 minutes of her fussing & him trying to soothe her) I go to her room & nurse her back to sleep in there. It might take some time for her to get used to your hubby checking on her and he'll probably be exhausted, but it really is the best way to do it, if co-sleeping is becoming too exhausting. You shouldn't feel guilty, her daddy can offer her the comfort she needs as well, it will just take some time for her to get used to him soothing her. Hope that helps! We're suffering from sleepless nights here too (Jake is away for 2 weeks), so I can sympathize with you!
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