Friday, July 24, 2009

Sleep Training Chronicles

We have friends who told us that sleep training would be a spectacular event in our lives as parents. They meant, of course, that the results of sleep training would be spectacular, provided that we were strong enough to handle the training. Sleep training requires titanium will power, which I do not possess.
We had a false start on Monday. Mike was getting ready to do the bedtime routine with Zeke and I panicked at the thought of putting my little baby in a crib, all by himself, in the (mostly) dark room, and letting him cry himself to sleep. Mike was very patient with me and coddled Z to sleep that night and then we had a good discussion and read passages from the books, talked about what we were trying to accomplish, etc., etc.
Tuesday night we really started, and Z cried and cried while I was busy attending to my burgeoning solo law practice. When that was finished and Z was still crying, I spent some time abusing Mike by telling him he was a vicious man and a mean father and that it would be all his fault if Z hated us forever. When the crying stopped after 20 minutes, I pestered Mike to go and check on Z to make sure he wasn't dead or carried off by silverfish (a personal fear). Mike waited a further 20 minutes and then carefully checked, reporting back that all was well.
Wednesday night Z cried for 25 violent, angry minutes.
Thursday night Z didn't cry at all.
Tonight Z cried half-heartedly for approximately 5 minutes in two brief spurts.
This is notable progression, even if it isn't linear. It is enough to support three further training nights. Sorry, no pictures of the sleeping Zeke.

2 comments:

The Larsens said...

Lance wants me to do this and I can't. One night nothing I did got Asher to sleep. He cried for 45 minutes before he fell asleep. I am impressed with your sleep training.

ol' Bob said...

1. I'm curious about T's burgeoning solo law practice, although it's off-topic for the blog.

2. Congratulations for persisting in a difficult but ultimately worthwhile effort.

3. There must be a reason for the existence of silverfish. My tired imagination and lack of detailed knowledge about the silverfish ecosystem can come up with only the animal equivalent of briars and noxious weeds.