Sleeping through the night

So we're on the 5th day of Cry It Out and I'm shocked to say things are going smooth! For those of you unaware of the term, Cry It Out is a method of getting baby to fall asleep on his own without the aid of you rocking or nursing him to sleep. You put baby in the crib when he's drowsy and hope he'll fall asleep on his own. Its called CIO because most babies, and mine definitely included, do not want to do the whole sleep thing on their own and much prefer to fall asleep nestled in mommy's arm, so they cry when placed into the crib at bedtime.

I originally found the entire concept a bit cruel, I hate to leave my baby cry and I usually rush to his needs so it felt strange to let him scream in his crib. My opinion changed after his doctor's visit last week. My husband had to take him this time, because I had an appointment. Completely drained from having barely slept an entire week, he exasperatedly begged the doctor for some clues on why our baby at nearly 5 months could not sleep longer than 3 hours without waking up wailing for us. She told us it was because he simply did not know how to sleep. She told him to imagine he fell asleep on the couch with a beer in hand watching the game ( was she spying on him Sunday nights?!) and woke up in bed...rather disorienting, no? Our baby needed to fall asleep in his bed on his own so that when he woke up he'd feel comfortable in the crib and at ease enough to simply go back to sleep.

OK, so I was mostly sold, but what really drove in his need for proper sleep habits was spending the weekend at my in-laws. It was a huge family gathering and everyone was sleeping over. The next morning 3 different aunts came up to me and asked me what was happening the night before with my baby cuz they heard him through the house. That was it. My baby was going to start sleeping!

So Sat night we get home and start. It works like this You hold the baby do whatever bedtime routine you do, singing, hisses, etc. and then put him in. You say good night and leave right away and then if he is crying you go back in to comfort him at 5 minute intervals - but you can't pick him up! The first night I did horribly and kept picking him up, and I cried the way thru, until my husband sent me to bed and he handled the rest. After 40 mins like this he went to sleep. The next night was only 15 minutes of crying! Last night only 5! And the clincher - today my baby looked tired, we have a terrible time with naps, he fights them with intensity, anyway today as he showed signs of sleepiness I swaddled him, rocked him for 5 mins and put him in his crib. He cried for just 1 minute till I left the room and was fast asleep. Hence, I am actually able to blog right now!

I AM A BELIEVER!