Cry it out and how it worked for me

Cry it out is a very controversial subject. From day one I was against it and said I would never do it. I just couldn't stand hearing my baby cry. Well things change I guess. Emma is 10 months old now and I just couldn't handle it anymore. Nothing was working. So, I decided to do cry it out. Let me tell you, it's the best thing I ever did and I wish I hadn't waited this long!

I read a lot about how to do it and I took what I read and made it my own. Every baby is different and at this point I knew what was going to work and not work with her. 

I knew if I went in there every 5 min then 7 then 10.... It would make her worse and cry even longer. So I was literally going to have to let her cry it out. The first night was the hardest. She went to bed at 7:30 and woke up at 1:15. I sat there listening to her scream for 30 min. During that 30 min I felt like I had a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other. Go in there, what if she pooped, what if she threw up, what if she has a fever, she just wants her mommy, go in there and hold her...... No Amber, she is fine, she is just upset, this too shall pass, it's worth it in the long run, you don't want a 3 year old that still can't sleep through the night. But maybe if I just go sneak a peek and pat her back..... No no, I can't that will just piss her off even more. And so on and so on.... Well after the 30 min i couldn't take it anymore, I went in there and she was standing in her crib reaching for me and screaming. I didn't pick her up. I just layed her back down on her belly and turned on her fishy crib soother. I then left the room with her still crying. She was beyond mad, her screams probably woke the neighbors. But I stayed strong and went back to my room. After a few minutes of recovering from the ringing in my ears, I turned the monitor back on. She was still crying. I layed there thinking this will never work, she is going to scream for hours! 10 min later she stopped! Ahhhhhh, ok I can do this! She didn't wake up till 5:30. I fed her and put her back to bed. She slept until 8:30 after that. I did it! I made it through night one!!!!

Night 2! I thought for sure it was going to be a repeat of the night before. She went to bed at 7:30. And... Like clock work she woke up at 1am again. This time I was a little calmer. Not so many fights going one with the angel and devil. I got on my phone, checked Facebook, read a few blogs I haven't had time to read and tried to remember how nice it was to get a full 6 hours of sleep straight!!! Oh how marvelous it will be when I can get a full nights sleep! :) After 15 min I layed back down with the monitor in hand on the lowest volume. I fell asleep. When I woke back up the monitor was off!!!!! WTF, OH MY GOD! MY BABY IS PROBABLY DEAD! I turned it back on as quick as my fingers could. Silence!! Oh god, what time is it? How did it turn off? I must have hit the off button by accident! I'm an awful mother! What do I do? I have to go in there! It was 3am. Who knows how long she cried for. I tip toed as fast and quietly as I could to her room. Opened the door slowly and saw her laying there very still. I got closer, is she breathing? I put my finger under her nose, HOT BREATH!! Thank god!!! I exited the room hoping not to wake her up. I didn't. I went back to bed feeling relieved and upset at the same time. She woke up at 6 to eat and then slept till 9. I guess you could say night two was a success. I don't know. 

Night 3! Well I wasn't going to let the same thing happen as last night, that's for sure. I put the monitor on my night stand and made sure it was going to stay there. She woke up at 2:30 this time. I felt bad because of the night before and really thought hard about going in there to comfort her. But I talked myself out of it. I didn't want to have to start all over again. 10 min later the monitor went silent. I turned over to make sure it was still on. Yep! SUCCESS! Only 10 min! I fell back asleep with a smile that night. She didn't wake until 7am. 

Night 4 she slept through the night! Waking up at 6 to eat. Every night since has been the same. I don't consider her waking up at 5 or 6 to eat a bad thing. I can handle that. As long as she isn't up before the birds lol ;) 

So that's how cry it out worked for me. It wasn't as bad as I imagined and read about. It was a bit nerve racking but it's worth it. I feel great! 

We just bought a tempurpedic mattress the other day. This is my first night sleeping on it! I am hoping for a great nights sleep!!!! ;) 

If you are having doubts about CIO I suggest you do your own version of it. Take everything with a grain of salt. You know your baby better than anyone. So do what you think is best. I felt the time was right. At 10 months she knew what she was doing. She was pulling one over on me and I had had enough. No sleep for nearly 18 months is pretty awful. I couldn't sleep when I was pregnant. And I defiantly couldn't sleep after she was born up until now. Anyway, like I said before it was the best thing I ener did. And if we have another one I won't wait as long to do it. 

Here is a quick pic of her pushing her cart. She just figured it out the other day! Go Emma!!!