Sonja and I have been trying to get Levi into a bedtime routine and get him to the point where we can just lay him down at night and have him fall asleep. Oh the pain. Levi is a pretty sweet boy - so when he cries it really breaks our hearts (I'm sure it might also have something to do with him being our son and all). Anyway, Sonja's been doing an awesome job these last few nights of driving the bedtime routine - eat, change into pajamas, story and song. Then, we lay him down...and that's when the crying begins. We wait 10 agonizing sweet-baby-crying minutes, check on him (but don't pick him up), then repeat. We only let it go on for about 30-45 minutes, though (we don't want to scar him or anything). The other night he finally fell asleep after about 45 minutes. Last night Sonja was being a trooper and doing it on her own while I was working late - after being down for about 30 minutes he found a new cry to try on her and she broke - you can't understand how hard it is unless you've done it. Tonight Sonja had some errands she wanted to do, so I was on duty with the bedtime routine. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to hack it - that I would crack too soon. And, truly, I almost didn't make it 30 seconds. I was enjoying our time of hanging out, just Dad and Son, and reading and getting ready for bed. So much so, that when he started crying after I laid him down, it took everything I had to drag myself out of the room and go set the 10 minute timer.
But tonight it all paid off - he cried himself to sleep in under 10 minutes. I know it was 10 minutes because the timer I had set so I wouldn't go in too often hadn't gone off yet. And, now over 2 hours later he's still asleep.
I just hope it is the sign of things to come and not just him taking a night off while he plans out new cries to work on us.
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And, for fun, here's a picture - a little blurry, but still pretty cute:
4 comments:
That is seriously one of the very hardest things a new parent goes through. Oh, I am so proud of you two! And truly, once they realize it is fruitless...well...it will only get easier. Just keep up the routine- I love the timer idea- it keeps you from thinking that you probably have left him in there for like 6 hours just screaming...ha...10 minutes can seem about that long when it's your sweet baby crying! Let us know when it's under three minutes...
Wow... That's the same method Christy used on me to get me to go to bed at night...
Congrats!
Way to be strong! I've had somewhat similar experiences having to put my younger siblings to bed (when they were babies) and hearing them scream their lights out until they'd gotten it out of their system. It's definitely not fun...but it's good they learn!
What a cutie-patootie! I'm glad things are working for you. Parenting has to be one of the hardest things to do, but also one of the most rewarding, precious, and fulfilling jobs in the world! Congratulations!
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