Monday, January 5, 2009

Let Her Cry it Out???

Isn't she cute? She isn't that cute in the middle of the night!
Katelee is still not sleeping through the night and I'm starting to try different things. One night we left her hands out so she could suck on them if she wanted to. That didn't work, seems like when she gets mad she can't seem to find her mouth with her hands. So we tried this new swaddling thing. There is no way she can get her arms out of this "straight jacket" as my mother-in-law calls it. That works with keeping her hands out of her way, but she still drops her binky and then she really screams. Saturday night was her worst sleeping night EVER. I ended up sleeping downstairs in our chair with her on my chest. If I moved she started screaming. Chris was up with her for a bit, but was getting frustrated with her, so I took over for a bit. Sunday night it seemed like it was going to be a GREAT night. She was out by 9 and sleeping like a little angel. Then it happened, like it always does, she lost her binky and was pissed off at the world! Chris went and got her binky for her and came back to bed. As soon as he laid down she was screaming again. I had finally had it. She was nice and full, she had just eaten 6oz of milk, she had a clean diaper and even a little bit of benadryl for her eczema. So when Chris went to get out of bed I said "No Way!" She gets to cry it out tonight. We never had to do this with Ethan, he has always been a good sleeper. So we turned the humidifier on High in Ethan's room and turned the bathroom fan on to muffle the crying, so Ethan wouldn't be bothered. She cried from 10:50-11:26 and then she stopped. My heart jumped, could it actually have worked, and in only 36 minutes? 5 minutes went by and she was still quiet. I started to get a little worried that perhaps she had passed out from crying so much, so I creep down the hall and opened her door to find her sucking on BOTH fists. Knowing she was still alive I felt much better and went back to bed. I finally fell asleep only to be awoken by her crying again at 11:46....The books didn't mention anything about her crying again??? What was I suppose to do, let her cry or go in??? Chris got out of bed, oh by the way, did I mention that he was able to fall asleep with Katelee screaming? Amazing!!!! He wants to give her the binky because he thinks she has been crying for an hour constant! So finally I give in and give her the binky back. She wakes up about 5 minutes later, I give her the binky again and she sleeps till 4am? So did crying it out really work?? I'm not sure! Do I try it again? I'm not sure! Will she ever sleep through the night? I'm not sure! But I guess in the end all that matters is that my little girl is healthy and I love her to pieces! (Oh by the way, my cousin took the kids' pictures a week ago. She didn't have much to work with...but they turned out amazing! She took the picture with this blog...I'll post the other ones a little later!)

2 comments:

Heidi said...

I am a believer in crying it out. BUT...each kid is so different I have noticed so different techniques and forms of crying out work differently. But my opinion is...if they are fed, burped and changed and you know they are ready for bed (meaning they haven't just woken up from a nap) then let her cry. I do that with Rylie. Sometimes she doesn't have a problem going down and other times she fights it. So I let her cry. They say to swaddle and make sure they have familiar sounds in their surroundings so when they do wake up. Like humidifiers or music. I know they sell white noise machines but I figure my humidifier works just as well. They also have cd's designed to help babies sleep.
But also remember with crying it out...it works the best if you are consistent!! Let her cry, check on her at times if it makes you feel better, but don't get her up once you have started!
The whole thing with the paci might stop once she has learned crying it out. Then she will learn how to go to sleep without it and then when she wakes in the night prematurely, she won't have to have it to go back to sleep.
It is hard...I know (I have had to do some form of crying it out with each of my kids). But you can do it!! Good luck!!! =)

tiffunny said...

I'm sorry you're having a hard time. I can't say i've really ever had to do the crying out method at this age. It definitely won't last forever. THat's the only comfort i can give you. Plus when she gets a little better with her hands, maybe she can learn to give herself her binky when it falls out at night. Hang in there. She's worth it!!!