Once upon a time, not that long ago, a very short lived time but one that truly existed, my daughter woke up only twice a night - like clock work she was down at 7 up at 11 up at 3 and then up at 7.
More recently shes ;
down at 7
up at 7:30
up at 8:00
up at 9:00
up at 9:45
up at 10:30
up at 11:30
and so on and so forth .. until of course play time at 5 or 6 am.
It was like the moment she turned 6 months old she would only nurse to sleep and the majority of the time it's not for reasons related to hunger, and no I won't let her cry it out.
My sleep means much less then the emotional well being of my daughter, so I will never conciser letting her cry it out.
Personally I feel it breads insecurity, loneliness and a negative association with bedtime, a baby trusts that if they cry you will be there for them.
Keep in mind though, to me crying and 'fussing' are two totally separate animals.
I know I need to do something for both of us - she associates sleep with nursing, she also refuses to nap unless nursed, it's a new thing but I know I have some how helped lead up to it.
I do however have no doubt the cry it out method it works for a lot of people, just like pacifiers for others, something which Sahar would never take, my feeling is she wouldn't take well to that method, and neither would I in all honesty.
So I'm looking at alternatives, I'm thinking of purchasing a book called 'the tear free sleep solution', and see how that goes. I want bed time to be relaxed, happy, restful - not the opposite with my daughter crying in her bed which I know as pathetic as it sounds would probably bring me to tears.
I don't want her to turn into a spoiled demanding child, but can you really spoil a child with love and comfort? Thats hard for me to imagine, with Sahar anyways, I just try to do what my gut says and balance that with logic and common sense and just do my best.
I've tried a few different things thus far, putting her down half asleep, shushing and patting her and similar ideas. Lately she has little interest in her 'ocean wonders aquarium', at one point it was a sure fire snooze inducer.
I feel like I should know what to do - I know why she wont sleep without nursing, it has become her sleep que the only way she knows to fall asleep and adults and children wake on average 4-6 times or more a night, most don't remember because we are accustomed to putting ourselves back to sleep with little or no thought at all, Sahar doesn't know how to fall back asleep on her own.
Babies usually create self soothing techniques to calm themselves and at times help them sleep.
Sucking on pacifiers, fingers, rubbing or scratching surfaces like blankets or making certain humming noises to name a few - Having said that, I'm still not aware if Sahar has one other then nursing thus far.
I just wish I knew how to make nights a tad less exhausting for us both.
Does/ Did your children sleep through the night?
Do they have a self soothing technique?
Did you let them cry it out?
What tricks helped/help your little one at bed time?
I'm always open to suggestions!
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