I got into the habit last week of using the Baby Bjorn (a baby front-pack) to lull Lyla to sleep at nap time. It's an effective method but not a great idea because you don't want the girl to only fall asleep that way. Ideally you put her in the crib awake, and she peacefully puts herself to sleep.
This is easier said than done. Believe it or not, Lyla does not welcome the opportunity to sleep when I place her in the crib. Reasoning with her does no good, as she does not believe she is tired and doesn't know the word tired yet anyway. So what do you do? Pick her up? Leave her there to shriek? You're screwed, so you search for alternatives like the Bjorn and dread the day when she's 50 pounds heavier and still can only get to sleep that way.
I haven't studied Ferber extensively, but I know he developed a method to teach babies to put themselves to sleep. From what I understand, he could've titled it "Letting Your Baby Cry Herself To Sleep." That's not quite accurate, of course, but the method does involve leaving the baby in the crib for specific lengths of time before comforting her, and then gradually lengthening those lengths (good grief) until the little cherub learns that crying doesn't get her more than a pat on the head every ten minutes or whatever.
It seems to me that if you try this method, the baby's mother should stay at a hotel. I tried a modified nap time method today. I put Lyla in her crib, kissed her, rubbed her head, sang the sleepy song, and left her. By my third step, she was expressing serious reservations about napping. Downstairs, I set the timer on the microwave for five minutes, approximately my threshold for listening to a baby crying.
She sobbed the entire time. As soon as it beeped, I charged up the stairs, picked her up out of the crib (which you're not supposed to do, apparently), calmed her, and repeated the process. This time, the sobbing started on my first step out of the room. I set the timer downstairs for another five minutes, and ground my teeth.
During the fourth minute, the crying stopped. She's been sleeping soundly for the last 45 minutes. I still feel like an asshole.
3 comments:
No matter what method you use, the parent suffers when the baby cries. It is one of those tough parenting deals. The only good thing - she won't remember the crying and will be happy to see you when you pick her up after nap time. Consistency is the key - good luck!!!!
Sucks, doesn't it? Our monitors have the light light indicator thing on them, so my solution is to go to a room where I can't actually hear her (like the basement) and turn the volume off and just have the light thing turned on. That way I know if she's still crying, but I can't actually hear it so it doesn't tear my heart apart the whole 5 minutes. Good luck!
I would just hold her for her entire nap!! Love you guys...G-Ma!
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