No Cry Sleep

I've been on a book reading craze the last two weeks trying to find solutions to help baby Everett sleep better. I started out with a book I received last year for Christmas, from my sister-in-law, called On Becoming Baby Wise: Giving Your Infant the Gift of Nighttime Sleep. This book was good for the most part, but mostly had good information for BRAND NEW parents, so I had to skip over some of that SUPER basic info that I've heard a million times from Doctors and Nurses. This books theory for you baby's sleep was to let your baby "cry it out". I've heard a lot of parents eventually going to this method, even though the idea of letting your baby cry itself to sleep sounds pretty awful. The idea is to help your baby learn to put itself to sleep without help from you. There are a few other things in this book that I learned. Over all, I'm glad I read it, even though not all of it is something I would do.

So, after two or three days of putting him on a strict schedule and laying him down awake(both of which the book suggests) it was working out pretty well (luckily my baby doesn't cry much). I began the second book written for babies more Everett's age. This book had some pretty good stuff such as: info on starting solids, disciplining, sign language, and more.

After those few blissful days of solid sleep for him though, it felt as if the pixie dust was disappearing. He began waking up and balling more often. And, even though, I would try and let him "cry it out" I eventually HAD to pick him up because it became too much for me. After that, we both caught a nasty bug that's been going around, and crying it out wasn't an option for us because of how sick he was. I knew he needed more sleep to get over his cold, but he was getting LESS SLEEP! After one HORRIBLE night, I bought this book on my Kindle the second I woke for the day, hoping that this would be the answer.

Even though I can't start the plan in this book until he's better, (as the book suggests) I still got a lot of great, easy suggestions. He's been sleeping a little better now and is finally starting to get over this nasty bug. I Suggest EVERY mother read this one, even if you believe in the cry it out method, it has some great stuff. It actually teaches you about how your baby's biological clock works and WHY he wakes up during the night. The only other thing I have to say about it is to READ IT :)


P.S. Hope everyone is having an awesome weekend!