I wish Landen's instruction manual wouldn't have been lost in the hospital. Funny thing is, Joselyn's got lost there too. We're bad about losing things like that. And since we haven't been able to find replacements, we have been left on our own to figure the babies out- what makes them happy, how to comfort them, what their cries mean, all of that. It would have been a different story, too, had they been exactly the same because then we could have used what we learned with Joselyn on Landen. But we are finding out more and more each day just how different they are. We can't always fall back on "what worked with Joselyn" when it comes to taking care of Landen. That is one of the reasons why I never follow parenting books to the T- every baby is different and to claim something is going to work for EVERY BABY is just ridiculous in my opinion. But I use them as references since I am new to this parenting gig and I would at least like to know what to TRY.
One of my favorite books is called "Baby Wise". The basic theory of this book from what I understand is that parents should provide a loving home and structure to a baby's life. In doing so, babies become more independant and competant. Part of this includes a pretty set schedule of eat-wake-sleep. It also includes letting babies "cry-it-out". The book claims that if you follow what it says, your baby will be sleeping through the night by 8 weeks old.
When we found out I was pregnant with Joselyn, I read Baby Wise after is was recommended by a friend. I decided my baby was going to sleep through the night by the time she was 8 weeks old and my life would be just perfect if I followed the book exactly. Well, it wasn't so easy. When Joselyn came along we found it very hard to let her cry it out. She is, always has been, one stubborn little girl. All she ever wanted was a little cuddle. It took us a while to figure out that if we just held her for a few minutes, she would go to sleep on her own just fine in her crib. And since we had been giving her a pacifier, we would have to get up in the middle of the night to put it back in. We got so used to that we gave up on her sleeping through the night at 8 weeks. In fact, she didn't sleep through the night until she was about 9 months old. We lived through it just fine and now Joselyn is a pretty easy baby. I concluded that Baby Wise wasn't for EVERY baby and that using some of it's tips here and there combined with other things I've learned would be best.
Well, Landen comes along just as different as can be. We tried holding him before putting him to bed thinking he would also just go right to sleep like Joselyn did but we were SO wrong. He got so addicted to it that it just wasn't helping and he wouldn't sleep longer than 45 minutes at a time (with maybe a 3 hour stretch at night). So I came back to the Baby Wise book, read it once again, found a blog about it, and decided to give it a good try with Landen - and that included letting him cry it out. In the process I have learned that Landen is a quick learner. The first night we let him cry it out was a little heart breaking... but Adam and I were both so sleep deprived at this point that it was easier to drown out the crying and sleep- even with him right there in the room with us. We would get up occasionally, pat him on the stomach and let him know we loved him. He cried for about 2 hours straight. Yeah, it was sad but we were sure he knew we still loved him. He slept a while then would cry again but we wouldn't pick him up (unless he needed to eat). The next morning when he took his first nap he cried a lot again. But then something magical happened. Every nap after that he fell asleep as soon as I put him down- it didn't matter where it was- crib, swing, or car seat. Hardly any crying, if any. And then he slept for 7 hours straight last night, and only woke up once to eat. It was amazing. I don't want to jinx myself or anything, but I think he just really needed to teach himself how to go to sleep on his own. And he learned FAST! (1 day!) I'm so proud of him and things are MUCH easier now. And he's not waking up in 45 minute intervals anymore. YAY! I am so happy I can't contain myself. (just pray that he continues to cooperate!)
