This Sh*t works!
I don’t think that “crying it out” is always the best or only solution, but for Logan, it has been a godsend! Last night was the 3rd night and we had hardly a peep when he was put down nor when he would waken during his sleep cycles. I am amazed at what a “text book” case he has been. Naps have been a little bit tougher simply because it’s sometimes hard to tell just how tired and ready for a nap he is. For the most part our boys are still ready for a nap after 2 hours of being awake but the evenings tend to end up being a 3 hour stretch which means a whole lot of fussy babies.
We’ll go one more night with Logan tonight and then tomorrow night add Forest into the mix. We’ll return him to his bedroom now that Logan is doing so well, and let him officially learn the process – as well as let the boys get used to each other crying in the same room. Listening to Forest cry will be a whole lot harder for me so I may need a more gentle solution like standing with him or something while he goes through it. We’ll just have to see how the first night goes.
I’m glad we waited until now to go through this process. They are 20 weeks old now, no longer little infants and they definitely know they are loved and we are there for them. They spent the first 4 months of life in loving arms for naps and at bedtime but Logan’s instant taking to the new learning helps me feel positive about my decision that they are ready to take another step towards independence as little people.
Next step, wean them from their swaddlers. They already seem to be weaning themselves from pacifiers.
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It does work, doesn’t it? I was totally anti-CIO methods, but when I was bordering on insanity and they were six months old, we resorted to it. Jackson was a breeze and is a great sleeper now. I put him in his crib at night and he lies down, sucks his thumb, hugs his stuffed animal puppy and just hangs out until he falls asleep. Ava has been a little more difficult. She is still prone to getting up once in a while, but I think that is because she is more sensitive, so things like teething pain effect her more. She is also the higher needs baby of the two, clingier and needier, so a lot of it is really just personality. But she sleeps through the night and is much better at being in her crib awake. Not perfect, but good enough that I am no longer bordering on psychotic :)
As far as the swaddling goes, the way we weaned them off the miracle blanket was to swaddle them but leave one arm out for a week. The next week, we’d leave both arms out. Then we’d wrap the blankets really loosely. Then we got rid of them all together and they were fine.