And a brief summary of Night #5: Holden cried for 38 minutes total tonight ... again. How long he sleeps tonight is of little consequence to me now, since I'm much more concerned about him shortening the duration of his crying at bedtime -- if it doesn't shorten soon, I'm going to start getting concerned that we're confusing him by not taking this approach at nap time, and we might need to start that project sooner rather than later). I know this will all seem less painful and simpler in hindsight, but it's starting to seem more complicated and more problematic the longer it lasts.
And I did find a great dad blog called DadWagon written by a group of journalist-fathers, and I found a set of postings entitled "Sleep Training: A Necessary Evil, or Just Evil?" Here's my fave quote (among MANY) from these posts:
"I think I had a harder time letting my kid cry it out before I realized the vast universe of things that make my kids wail. Can’t wear a specific pair of pajamas? They cry. Offered vegetables one too many times? They cry. It makes you realize that not every fit is a deep referendum on their parent’s love. Just today, my 21-month-old son cried because I didn’t let him play with the dog’s water bowl at our friends’ house. Nobody would think I was being cruel or scarring my kid. There are some things that you just have to draw the line at, and let the kid cry if he wants about it. I think sleep is one of those things."I'll post again on this subject only if we have any developments -- as some of you may be tired of reading about our sleep training on a daily basis ... pun intended ; )
Mike - It's great that you're keeping track of this real-time, especially since I think it shows that it's a messy process, unlike what a lot of books promise (BabyWise, I'm talking 'bout you). I think at DadWagon we all mostly agreed that it's highly variable and probably frustrating no matter what route you take. And then... it gets easier. Here's hoping you get there soon.
ReplyDeleteNathan -- thanks. It's hard to blog about such personal things, but I also think it is important to share the messy process because most books and parenting websites just skip right to the end game and gloss over the difficulties and complexities that make parenting more of a struggle.
ReplyDeleteWe hope we get "there" soon, too. Also, I hope it's warmer "there" ; )