Cry Me a River

It finally happened. We chose to ignore our baby’s desperate and only available form of communication. Sure kid, we hear you crying in misery, begging, pleading for assistance or some sign of our affection, and we say, “No.” Actually, we say, “Shh, you’re fine. Go to sleep.” Then we close the door, leaving you in the darkness with only your precious Lion to comfort you and the distressing, ever-present noise of rushing water that the allegedly “soothing” white noise maker provides.

One Saturday in early September, I turned to Zach and said, “Hey, let’s do the cry it out thing.” I had been avoiding this option even though it had become very clear that the fatiguing and time-consuming rocking-to-sleep process was no longer effective. Owen was over it, and he was frequently waking in the night still. We knew we were going to have a hard time getting him into the habit of sleeping through the night again, what with the two month road trip and all, but after a few weeks in a routine in our new home, we were still feeling like zombies from all of the night waking.

So that Saturday, we put Owen down for a nap and he cried for 45 minutes and then proceeded to take one of the longest naps ever. We took this as confirmation, and let him fall to sleep by himself for bedtime that night. Owen cried for 25 minutes and then was out like a light. For the next few nights, he got into the habit of going to bed on his own and ended up sleeping through the night.

I grant you, there have definitely been some highs and lows. After the first two magical weeks of not waking up in the night except maybe once to eat, Owen inexplicably (Teething? Growth spurt? Practicing crawling and rolling over? ) started waking throughout the night. After much hubbub, we’re back to waking once a night to eat, and I’m about to cut that feeding out too. He also falls asleep on his own for naps now, which really frees up one’s day, believe me. It’s a whole new world.

Normally, bedtime goes down free of any crying. There are some variables regarding naptime, but usually Owen is out without a fuss. There are setbacks, however; like this past weekend when we said, “Oh, you have a schedule now, huh? Watch this!” We carted that kid all over and took him to pumpkin patches, parks and parties. As a result, last evening and today’s naps were a bit rougher. But the past few days have been all about getting him back on track. Too bad it’s almost fall back.