I have recently come to the conclusion lately that these two things are true:
1) It's time for us to let Abigail figure out how to put herself to sleep. She's almost 8 months old and still does not sleep through the night (only rarely, like once a month), and is a torture to put to sleep. I usually end up sitting by her crib and holding her hand. It lasted two hours last night and YES, she was TIRED! We have let her "cry" in the past but I'm not consistent and usually end up giving in, which is not good, I know. We also argue about this ALL THE TIME and that has got to stop.
2) I can't do it. I simply do not have the heart to let her cry it out. She cried for maybe 20 minutes last night (with two or three checks by me during that time) and I just couldn't stand it anymore. So, if we decide to do this, it's going to have to be the daddy who puts her to sleep until she is over the worst of it. I just can't hear my child cry/scream. It's not in me as a mother. When she cries, I HAVE to do something to help her!
It's worse right now because she is having separation anxiety. She cries when I leave her, even when I hand her to Daddy or put her on the floor to play alone! So, it is worse when I am the one leaving her alone in her crib. My mommy heart is breaking for the sweet girl but she's old enough to sleep already and . . . I'm tired!
Also, I hesitate to do it now because the girl is seriously teething. Her top teeth are getting closer and closer to coming in each day. I can feel and see the difference each day in her gums. It's only a matter of time now!
Ah, the challenges of doing what's right for the baby. It never ends, does it?!
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In other news, my sister's wedding was absolutely beautiful. I am so happy for her! It was also terrific to see many family members and old friends at the wedding. We had a wonderful time visiting with some Sterling friends at Jenny's girls night on Friday and with family that we don't get to see nearly often enough! I have some pictures to post, so perhaps I will do that later today.
2 comments:
I hope you're able to get it figured out. There are some times when it's really hard to let Jacob cry, but then there are other times when I'm just so tired!! :) 8/9 months to about 15 months are a bad time for separation for babies. It's always funny to see their reactions to the photographer (we had 3/6/9/12 mo. pictures taken of both kids). Every time at sometimes 9 and always 12 months, they HATED being sat down a few feet away from me! It's a LOOOONG phase!!
i'm so sorry -- crying it out with your baby is so hard. torture for a mama! we had to let ours cry it out at 2am. she woke up at the exact same time every night and we knew she wasn't hungry, she was just used to getting up. so we moved as far away as we could (living room couch!) and just let her cry.
it sucked.
but it worked after 2 nights.
hope you can figure something out!!
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