Well, if anyone reading this has ever let their children cry-it-out then you know how heart-wrenching it can be to just let them cry while you do nothing but listen to it. It's a technique that teaches babies to self soothe and is often used by mamas who are just too tired to get up in the middle of the night anymore! Charlotte & Hannah Kate had been doing pretty good on advancing their nighttime feeding times every couple of nights by at least a half hour after Christmas but after about 1.5 weeks they just kind of stopped at 4:30 and were stuck there for another week. I know that doesn't sound that bad to get them down around 7 and have them sleep until 4:30 but after soooo many months of sleep deprivation, 4:30 in the morning was still not a late enough time in the morning for us. So, I just made the decision on Saturday (in a desperate attempt to get some more sleep after an awful Friday night) that they will not get rocked if they wake up in the middle of the night, nor will they get any type of comforting or fed before 6:30am (btw...they were getting a 5am feeding for the few nights prior to Saturday). I know it sounds mean and heartless to push them back so far in one night but something had to be done and quickly! My mother-in-law is currently in town because Patrick is away at a training camp in Texas for a week and a half so I thought now is as good of a time as any while I have some daytime relief in case I needed a nap after the long nights of endless crying. Now, we had done the cry-it-out method to get them down initially in the evenings, but we were still going in and rocking them when they were waking up in the middle of the night. All of this ended as of Saturday night. Here is a recap of our nights so far:
Saturday night: Girls went to bed at 7pm, woke up at 1am and cried until 2am when they fell back asleep. Charlotte woke up at 4:30 and cried until 5am, Hannah Kate cried from 5-5:30am and fell back asleep. Girls woke back up at 6 and cried until they were fed at 6:30am. Whew...that was a rough night!
Sunday night: Girls went to bed at 7pm, Hannah Kate woke up at 4:15 and cried until 5am when she fell back asleep. Both girls woke up at 6:40 and were immediately fed :) I was soooo proud of them and had a decent night of sleep overall.
Monday night: Girls went to bed at 7pm, Charlotte woke up at 5:15 and fell back asleep at 5:45am. Both girls then woke up at 6:50am and were immediately fed :) I was sooooo proud of them again!
Tuesday night: Girls went to bed at 7pm, both woke up at 6am and cried until they were fed at 6:30 am. I had 8 solid uninterruped (by the girls anyway) hours of sleep and they had 11 hours of uninterrupted sleep! Talk about proud! Then today they took a nap for over 2 hours in the afternoon, which has never happened before!
I know I may seem like an awful mother for allowing my children to cry so much during the night but once again, they need a sane mother that isn't so sleep deprived more than they need a middle of the night feeding! Several people I know have babies that were sleeping through the night at 12 weeks and the girls were 20 weeks this past weekend so I knew they would be okay in the end...just maybe a little put out with me for letting them cry so much. But they are so happy to see me in the morning with a bottle for them and they just smile so much when they are done eating :) This I can handle!!
To anyone out there considering sleep training by the cry-it-out method, I will say that it takes lots of will power to just sit idly by while your little babies that hold your heart in their hands are crying their eyes out but in the end it is well worth it. Your children learn to self soothe, they are happier babies during the day from getting more uninterrupted nighttime sleep, and the parents are happier from getting more uninterrupted nighttime sleep as well. Charlotte learned to suck her thumb when she had to self soothe and Hannah Kate learned to suck on her fingers and talk while she self soothes.
Here are some recent pictures of my cuties:
Charlotte
Hannah Kate
Nonny sporting her bow with the girls!
Girls laughing at their Kissy Caterpillar
Ellie got in on the bow action as well :)
And so did mom!
Hannah Kate (L) & Charlotte (R)
Hannah Kate (L) & Charlotte (R)
Charlotte has learned to suck her thumb! This is a huge deal!
HK (L) & Char (R) in their bumbo chairs
Just wanted you to know that you don't seem like an awful mother at all. You seem like a very smart mom who is doing a great job with her kiddos! Yay for sleeping through the night!
ReplyDeleteoh my goodness, Christy--your girls are ADORABLE!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is Debbie or Nonny. As the Nonny who is here I can tell you that Christy is a wonderfully caring mother who is very tuned in to her girls needs. She is strong when she has to be and so loving. It is such a joy to stand back and watch her greet them in the morning after a night of sleep--wish I could capture the adoring smiles they give her. It is hard for this Nonny to hear them cry so experiencing the last few nights of their progress is so rewarding. They are taking more milk during the day and at last feeding which surely helps. I love being here with all three of these girls. Thanks Christy for sharing.
ReplyDeleteDebbie/Nonny
They are not big enough to sit in a bumbo! How did they get so big so fast:( I need to see you soon! Great job on the sleep training!
ReplyDeleteAmanda
Christy, you're a very strong and loving mother. Way to stick with the cry-it-out method! I also believe it works but it's so hard to sit in the other room while babies are crying. I thank God for giving you the grace and strength to follow through!
ReplyDelete