Sleep.
Oh sweet sleep.
It has never come easy for Stevie, thus making it difficult suck for us. And, in fact, I get paranoid talking about, blogging about it, thinking about it, out of fear of jinxing the luck. But here we go anyway.
Paul came up with a new system. I was resistant at first. It’s not ideal. It’s not what you’re “supposed” to do with a 3 year old. I have always followed the rules/suggestions/recommendations and tried almost everything when it came to sleep training. But when you think about it, has Stevie ever done anything he was “supposed” to? Not really. We’re all just winging it over here at this point. I mean, he’s still in a crib for heaven’s sake.
So basically, we are rocking him to sleep.
This big, big boy.
Every night and every nap.
!!!!
I don’t know if this sounds like a big deal to anyone else, but if you’ve ever sleep trained a child, it’s pretty much the worst thing you can do after a certain age.
Up until about a month ago, one of us would sit in the room with him for anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour (sometimes longer!) just waiting for him to fall asleep. He would put on a show and just take his sweet time getting comfortable. Sometimes it took a few loud reminders that it was time to LAY DOWN AND GO TO SLEEP. If we left him alone, he would scream and scream and scream. (Sometimes until he threw up.) Forget co-sleeping – that didn’t work for anyone. Methods were tried. Fights were had. Oh the drama!
But now – it’s so simple! We just snuggle on the couch for 5-10 minutes and he’s out. Sometimes the transition to his crib isn’t all that successful, but he goes back down pretty easily. Of course I worry about how long we can get away with this. Or how long we should get away with it. How is this going to affect his development? How will he learn to be independent? Will he ever self soothe? Are we taking something away from him by doing this?
I think about it all. And right now, I kind of don’t care. I give this kid 100% of myself every day. And we both put so much time and energy into… Stevie. This one thing saves time, frustration and energy. He is sleeping better at night. He is taking decent naps. (Thank you Lord) There’s also so much more time for important selfies!
Last, but certainly not least, we get those Stevie snuggles that are so hard to come by. I figure if I can spend those few minutes adoring him instead of getting irritated with him, that’s good for everyone. Trust me, there’s plenty of time in the day for me to be irritated with him.
So? Win win win? I hope.
Now everyone go knock on wood!! HURRY!!! Don’t mess this up for us!!!
I always say follow your intuition, your heart, your gut…do what’s best for YOU and your son. It all passes by so fast. I miss rocking my daughter to sleep, and yes, I did that until she was two or three? and I got ridiculed by family and friends for that – but honestly I didn’t care because I knew in my heart what was best for us. (and today she is a very well-adjusted and happy adult).
ALL hail the BEST SELFIES EVER! Whatever needs to be done is what needs to be done. To make you and your family work. No judgment period. That is all. 🙂
Whatever works, no judgement here – and if there are i’m going to beat them up.
If you WERE to transition him out of a crib and into a twin or full bed, you could just do the cuddling there and crawl out when he’s asleep – no need to move/wake him! 🙂 (We MAY have done this with our oldest until he was about 4, he was never a good sleeper and he turned three right before our twins were born, so getting him to fall asleep at that point was pretty much not a possibility. He’s now ten and goes to sleep just fine all on his own and has for quite some time. This too shall pass…eventually.