CIO Update

Sickness has put it all on hold. Micah came down with RSV this week ... no crying it out until my little man is all better. Prayers for a quick recovery would be appreciated.

Week 13: CIO Update

Just when I gave up on the whole CIO (Cry It Out) method, because no matter what Micah was only sleeping 30 - 45 minutes at a time and then would scream (maybe not that extreme, but that's what it felt like to me) until the next feeding, it worked! Micah started taking longer naps this past Saturday. His morning nap was 2 hours without a PEEP and the afternoon nap was 3 hours without a PEEP! Amazing! We're still working out all of the kinks and of course the Sunday church schedule set us back a day or two, but we're getting there. I'm hopeful anyway.

Yesterday and today he's still been waking up 30 - 45 minutes into his nap, but he cries/fusses for about 5 minutes and then goes back to sleep. I can handle that ... it's the crying for almost an hour straight that I can't handle. He's finally learned to calm himself down and most of the time he can do it without his pacifier!! YEAH!! For a couple of his naps, if he can't put himself back to sleep, I've been putting him in the swing and he sleeps longer too ... I did that on Friday and I think that's part of the reason why he slept so well on Saturday.

He's still doing well at night (sleeping between 8 1/2 - 9 1/2 hours), but will wake up to eat at 3:30am. That's fine because he goes to bed so early, BUT then he nurses really well and won't eat at 7am. This morning I tried to only nurse him a little at 3:30am, but then he couldn't make it until 7am. I'm thinking I might try nursing him fully at 3:30am (he obviously needs it still) and then wait until 7:30am for his first daytime feeding. We'll see how it works.

Weeks 11 &12: CIO (Crying it Out)

So I'm sitting here typing this as quietly as I can because I'm DETERMINED to get Micah to take a full nap (one to two hours). Lately he's been falling asleep on his own for naps (which is good), but then he'll only sleep for 30 minutes and then wake up crying.

If I get him up he's fussy. If I let him stay in his crib he's fussy. If I nurse him he doesn't take a full feeding. I've tried EVERYTHING I could possibly think of (I've even given into his thumb sucking ... which I'm not a huge fan of)and so now I'm letting him "cry it out"! Earlier this morning he'd cry for 15 minutes and then I'd console him, then he'd cry for 15 minutes and I'd console him. He never did go back to sleep for this morning's nap, but he's put himself back to sleep twice now for this afternoon's nap and is napping right now.

I vaguely remember doing this with Jackson, but I don't remember it being so HARD. I guess it must be similar to not remembering labor pains, because if we did we might not ever have another child. This morning I had to clean my downstairs to keep myself occupied and calm. This afternoon (since Jackson is also napping) I've been taking comfort in learning what Micah's different cries sound like. A tired cry sounds a lot different that a painful cry or a hungry cry and it brings me comfort knowing that I'm giving him what he needs at this moment. Even though I think it's harder on me than it is on him.

I know that not everyone reading this blog agrees with letting babies "cry it out", but I KNOW this will be best for him in the long run. I hardly ever have problems with Jackson taking a nap or going to sleep at night and staying asleep (unless he's sick or extremely out of routine) and I give all the credit to him having learned the skill of putting himself to sleep when he was a baby.

Micah hasn't had any problems at night time, so I can't complain, it's just nap times that are EXHAUSTING us both. Oh ... he's up again ... here we go!