The CIO Chronicles, Part 1

Ok. So PB has never really "slept through the night". Sure, he's done it according to that silly rule you read about that says sleeping through the night means 5 hours straight. But who thinks 5 hours is enough sleep?! Not me, I can tell you that.

Being working parents, we adopted the "whatever works" mentality quite early. And what worked? Bringing PB to our bed on his first (and only) wake up during the night. Against everything I ever said about the safety (or un-safety) of cosleeping. But 16 months of sleeping on the 6 inches of bed not occupied by the Hub or PB has lost its novelty. Mama's ready to stretch her legs and wake up without a dead arm.

We tried the controversial CIO (cry it out) method a few months back. I had to actually leave the house at bedtime because hearing PB cry & scream like he did was not good for my soul. Or my blood pressure. And unknowing of what we were trying at home, his daycare providers told me he'd been clingy, fussy, and extra sensitive that week. Goodness.

But here we are again. Desperate.

I read a couple of books on non-crying methods and honestly, I just don't have it in me after an 11 hour day to go in and soothe PB every time he cries between 11pm and 3am. Picking him up and putting him down as soon as he stopped crying just to have him start crying again as soon as my head hit the pillow.

EVERYONE I know told me to just let him cry. His pediatrician, my parents, my friends with kids, trusted coworkers. It goes against everything I am as a parent to not attend to my baby's needs. But he has to learn. And I'm told this is the only way. Here we go....

Day 1: PB went down like a champ. Hit the mattress, looked up at me, rolled over and went to sleep. 2 hours later when the Hub got home from school, the crying & screaming ensued. The baby. Not us. We'd decided on progressive checks...10, 15, 20, 25 minutes.

We waited the 10 minutes and went to check on him. He was riled up, let me tell you. The screaming went on for a full hour. We checked, we patted, we sang. Every 10 minutes. And then around midnight.....silence
Sleep.

3 hours later, more crying. This time, in a sleep deprived fog, the Hub got PB and brought him to bed. Better luck tomorrow.

Day 2: Again, PB goes to bed easily. He woke up 2 hours later, and didn't even make it to his 10 minute check. And he slept til 5am!! We agreed to let him come to our bed for the last part of the morning. Ahhhhh. Peace.

Day 3: Going to bed was not as easy. PB started crying shortly after I shut his door. "10 minutes", I reminded the Hub. PB didn't make it. Lights out!!
This time he slept til 4:45 and the Hub brought him to bed.

The wake up times are creeping earlier and earlier and will result in PB being back in our bed for half the night. So we've agreed to not bring PB to our bed any earlier than 5:30. That's when we get up on weekdays, so maybe with us gone, our bed will become less attractive.

I hope I am not jinxing nights 4-whenever but it's not been as bad as I thought it would be. Sure, the crying is miserable to listen to. But so far, it's been brief and PB is his happy, lovable self during the day.

I guess maybe "everyone" could be right. Not an easy thing for this know-it-all to admit.

Here's to many more blissfully sleep-full nights!!