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Monday, October 1, 2007

Routines

Shannon - you probably don't want to read this one... (Josh's Godmother who demands I pick him up anytime he cries!)


I spent some time reading up on sleep/fussyness/cereal early last week. One of the things that caught my eye was establishing a routine for your little one. It also mentioned that traveling with baby can really affect their mood. I also read about the Ferber method. Apparently between 4-8 months babies will get accustomed to their sleeping routines. So if you rock them to sleep at night - they will want to be rocked later on - say 1-2 years old. And the habits that are formed during this time are extremely hard to break as they get older. Hmmmm....


We had a pretty solid routine, however it was drastically changed whenever we went out of town. Most of you know that we were out of town just about every weekend since August 25th. So we would get a very good routine during the week, but then on weekends it would change.


The other "Ferber" advice called for some tough love, i.e. "Letting them cry it out." I told Jim we had two different methods of administering "tough" love. The first option is to build up the length of time you allow them to cry before going in to comfort them. So you start with 5 minutes... and then add 2-5 minutes each additional time you need to go in there. The second option is what I call "Go big or Go home". This is where you let them cry as long as it takes them to fall asleep. And gradually they will get so tired out they will fall asleep on their own. Each time after this - they will cry less and less in theory because they will give up sooner.


Jim's response. "I am all in."


So last Monday, Jim and I set out to establish a routine and focus on keeping that routine. That first night we let him cry... I only lasted 30 minutes... (basically the time it took me to unload and reload the dishwasher as well as change the laundry) then I went up there and picked him up for just a second... layed him back down and he passed out.


The next night was a little less crying. And this continued until we left for MI. We tried as best as we could to keep the routine. I think it might have worked! He is back to only getting up once a night... YEAH!!!!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sad:( You are going to make me cry! Can't wait to hold him this weekend! - Shannon

The Smith Family said...

Around 6 months we did that with Ava and you will be so glad you did. It breaks your heart to hear them cry but it really works. Now, she usually doesn't make a peep, just rolls over and goes to sleep. It's like MAGIC!

AJ said...

My daughter, Ava, just turned 4 and she still craves a routine. It's amazing how much it helps them stay happy!

Kara said...

I am very strict on my girls routine, or at least I try to be. I have been lucky and they are great sleepers. B gets up once and a while and we typically let her cry and within a few minutes she sucks her thumb and goes back to sleep.