The Seventh Night

Going bye-bye!

So. We have a twist! Usually, I nurse him right before bed and he falls asleep. I put him in his crib and wait 15 to 20 minutes for the  crying to begin.

This night, he was still awake at the end of our nursing session! I just sat there, looking at his big, beautiful smiles, wondering 'what the heck do I do now?!' All these adorable smiles are going to be wiped away the second I lay him down in his crib! This is going to make me feel worse than having him wake up crying!! Ahhhh!

So we read a story. And another story. (Can you say procrastinate?) *sigh* I then kindly explained (!) to my 5 month old son that it was time for bed and in order to be a healthy happy baby, he needed his sleep. I then rocked him through one lullaby (and then another) and hugged him, kissed him and laid him down. The crying started before his head touched the mattress!!! And of course, my heart broke. I told him I loved him, gave him both wub a nubs, and left the room. I went straight into the kitchen, set the timer for 5 minutes, poured myself an amaretto and cranberry and sat down and cried. I felt horrendous.

I put him down at 7:20pm and went in every 5 minutes and stayed for 1 minute until 8:00pm. Did you see that?! FORTY minutes! That's 5 less than it's been! PLUS the 15 to 20 minutes of quiet before the storm was eliminated! Not too shabby, right?! Well, the story's not over yet.....

My husband is doing bedtime with Collin tonight, by himself, since I am going shopping! So after 3 nights of doing it alone, I get the night off! Now, I think my son must have gotten this memo because at 9:40pm, he was up again! We had to start all over! Although it was only 15 minutes instead of 40, it was still hard and of course, I didn't know at the time how long it would last. But it's over now, and I get tonight off and my husband will be helping for the next 3 nights! *relieving sigh*

Everyone I talk to says this should last for three to four nights. That was the memo my son didn't pick up! Geesh!