After all of the great comments of sleep tips encouraging me to let my newborn “cry it out,” I decided the next opportunity I got I would give it a try, or should I say my best effort. I figured that so many courageous readers could not be wrong, and if they were, it would only take me ten minutes to figure it out!
Tonight was the night! Dad was off at the grocery store, all was quiet in the house… except for Ollie. He had a wonderful long nap in the late afternoon, so he was not quite ready to go down for the night, even though he was giving up all of the telltale signs of sleepiness. I decided when after a bath, feeding, rocking and cuddling he was still not fully asleep, I would give the “cry it out method” a try.
I laid him down in his crib, swaddled him tight, covered him with a light blanket, gave him his dummy/pacifier, a good “SHHHHHHH-ing” and one last “I love you” before walking out of his room. All was fine for the first few minutes, not a peep. Then came the low cry, the “I'm bored come back now” cry. I left him alone until a good cry came. I went into his room, let him know I was there, all was ok, put the dummy back in his mouth, and walked out. He was quiet again for a few minutes, then he started with a good cry, which progressed to a heart-breaking scream. At that moment I thought, do I run to the end of the driveway, or do I crack? I semi-cracked…. I went into his room, again, let him know I was there, again, rubbed him this time, SHHH-ed him until his eyes closed and waited a minute or so to make sure he stayed calm.
I was determined at the very least, no matter what, I was not going to pick him up. Luckily I survived that goal. Ollie went to sleep after my third trip into his room. Which just like everyone said took about 10 minutes total for him to fully pass out. I do feel pretty good about my first attempt at letting him put himself to sleep. I think my mix of letting him cry and soothing him from a slight distance was a perfect mix for the both of us. I am sure as he gets older, and I get stronger, I will be able to hold off on running to his side. But for now, I feel good about my parenting skills and proud of my big boy!
