Sleep

It has been two weeks since I started "sleep training" Sydney. Up until 8 months, we had been co-sleeping with Sydney in our bed. Well, once she started crawling it became too dangerous and unsafe to leave her unattended in our bed. I put her into her crib on Sunday night and did the Ferber Method. A little bit different than flat out CIO (Cry it Out) - I let her fuss/cry for a while, but checked on her in intervals.

The first night was the toughest. She was angry to be in her crib alone. Loud, angry, screechy cries from the second I put her down. I checked on her and it would only make her angrier, as if she was saying, "Let me out of her! Pick me up. Now!!!!"

Each night (as Dr. Ferber states) should be half the amount of crying as the previous night. We were very lucky that Sydney took to this quickly. By night 4, she was only crying for about 5 minutes and those were mostly weak protest cries.

Last night, I gave her a bath, read her a book, gave her a bottle and she fell asleep without any protest. She now LOVES her crib. She can "break dance" in there, roll around, pull herself up to standing position and sleep the night away.

Although, I admit that I miss her in our bed and the middle of the night cuddles I know that her crib is the safest and best place for her now that she is becoming a mobile older baby.
Dr. Ferber, we love you.