A few weeks ago there was a question posed on our playgroup's message board about outsourcing parenthood. Anything from having a personal baby concierge to potty training to babyproofing. I honestly thought it was a joke, but it really does exist. And now...I have decided - Sign Me Up! Anyone out there interested in sleep training an adorable 7 1/2 month old little boy?We have seriously been trying for a month and a half, and we have only made baby steps, and even those steps go in reverse occasionally. At 2-3 months old, Luke went to sleep fairly easily, often times on his own, slept for long periods of time, and had no problem taking naps and going to bed in his crib. By 4 months, things went downhill. Today, he usually needs nursing or rocking to go to sleep (and even then, when you put him down, he'll sometimes cry), will only sometimes sleep "thru the night" (9 hrs) without waking, and rarely longer than that without insisting on nursing, and will only take 30 min naps in his crib - and even that is usually after he cries for 15-20 minutes first. Put that boy in his carseat or the swing at naptime and he's golden for up to 2 hours. Thankfully, bedtime he rarely puts up a fight when we put him down in his crib.
I honestly don't know what method to try next - he's so incredibly stubborn that the CIO method doesn't seem to be having much effect anymore. Any ideas???
Oh my goodness, Sarah. You will get through this. Eventually he'll be a great sleeper and you'll forget about all this. Not sure it's about what you're doing or not doing, he will just be the way he is. If the swing works for 2 hours then maybe do that to keep your sanity. You know how I struggled with Julia. He'll outgrow it. Don't get frustrated with him or yourself. The best thing is to realize "this too will pass". We used to stand over Julia's crib for hours patting her or pacing in the room with her to get her to sleep and then like Luke she'd sometimes wake up. Who knows why some babies are like this. Just know it's not about something you're not doing right. If you need to nurse him to sleep everynight the first year, I don't see anything wrong with that. Those are my thoughts!!
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