Tonight our seven month old fell asleep in his crib on his own. I am so proud of him I could puke. And so relieved. Anyone who has had an infant knows the agony of listening to your child scream and cry because they want to be picked up. As my brother describes it it is like nails on a chalkboard and so very stressful.
You have to fight your instincts to pick them up and comfort them and help them to sleep. But in the long run you aren’t enabling them to soothe themselves or fall asleep on their own. It’s so hard and I in no way judge parents who don’t do cry it out. We didn’t do it with Lou and I don’t think it’s for everyone. But I want Julian to be able to be independent and develop good sleep habits.
With a second child it’s hard not to repeat the same mistakes. But you also learn what works for you and what doesn’t. And each child is totally different. You have to just keep trying and trusting and not beat yourselves up for not knowing everything.
We have had the lions share of sleep struggles. But right now I’m in his room watching him sleep peacefully in his bed and I’m just amazed and overjoyed that he did it.
Now on to child number two.
