Which I am. I am in the category of "faint of heart". Here are things that are hard for people like me: scary movies, stupid end of the world movies where aliens come and capture and eat everyone, vomit, blood on someone other than myself, letting your baby "cry it out". Just to name a few :)
(Note: This is a rant about sleep training...)
Let's focus in on the last issue. Every time my baby cries, in his crib, wanting desperately for me to come rescue him... I want to. It takes all the strength I can muster to ignore his loud pleas and continue on with my chores. At night, it's worse. I get so frustrated and I just want to cry. Sure, we comfort him when it's necessary. But this sleep training stuff is for the birds! During the day, I only let him go about 15 minutes before I go in a comfort him. Patrick's a better man than I (haha). He can wait it out like a champ.
So, here I am. Typing away a 15 minute interval. He's slowing down, but steady indeed. My baby is persistent. I like to think that it's cause he loves me so much, but then I also think if he loved me so much then he wouldn't be deceptive and manipulative. I know full well that I'll be so glad we did this in the long run. It's just that the process is no fun - but honestly, there aren't too many processes that the Lord allows us to endure that are tons of fun. In the end, we're always better for it and we're able to trust the Lord more and rely on Him more. I'll just try to remind myself of this when it's 3am and my sweet boy just wants to snuggle :)
This parenting stuff is hard, sometimes. Parents always say "I know what's best" and I believe, for the most part, we do. But man, today I want someone else to know what's best and do the sleep training and tell my mobile baby "no! don't touch that!", while I snuggle him and play and sing and laugh with him all day long.
Ok. Fifteen minutes have passed and I need to comfort my crying baby. This is the part of parenting that I like :)
4 comments:
Oh, I have sooooo been there....twice. :( Both times, I've just curled up in a ball outside their door and cried right along with them. No fun. No fun at all. How long has it been? For Kayden, it only took about two weeks of the torture. For Cameron, well, we're still sleep training at two...it's just more of a "No, Sweetheart, you may not sit on your brother's head while he is trying to sleep," kind of thing. :) Hugs to you, Momma! He will get the hang of it!
I am going to go the other way on this one and say snuggle snuggle snuggle your baby even if it is 3am. For myself I just couldn't do the cry it out method. Now there are times in the night if they are whimpering I know that they don't need me and they soothe back to sleep but for both my babies if they woke up in the night I would just nurse them and they would go right back to sleep. I felt it comforted them more than hearing them scream.
You will make it and you will love the result! Praying for you.
I know how hard it is, I caved when you were a baby. Hopefully, you will succeed. Good Luck Sweetie!
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