CIO

Last night, I did what every mother hates: let their child cry it out. Ugh, Talon, I've spent countless hours reading and thinking about what is right. Do I pick you up every time you cry while you're so little or do I let you cry it out at bed time so you can learn to soothe yourself? I read a book that condones crying it out and one that says it's absolutely horrible to do to your child. The emotional side of me agrees with to not let you cry it out. The other side of me (and many testimonials later...) says it was time to let you cry it out.

That's what I did.

You'd been so tired and fussy for a couple days we thought you were teething again. You rubbed your eyes at 7:00pm. We went into your room and fed you, rocked you, then as I was putting you down in your crib you awoke. I left the room and you sat up and cried. And cried and cried. It made me almost cry. I went back in to your room at 7:09pm and gave you Froggy, told you I loved you and I'd see you when you woke up later. You momentarily paused to listen then as I began walking out you cried more. Ten minutes later, you finally fell asleep. Dad came home and I told him what we'd done. He was proud. 

The idea behind letting a baby cry it out is that the baby needs to learn how to self soothe and not  become completely dependant on parents for comfort. We will always comfort you when you really need it but in these situations, a baby realizes they can manipulate parents. That's what you were starting to do. You recently started standing up by yourself and when we came into your room, you'd be standing in your crib holding on to the railing. The night before last I went in and you stopped crying. I left and you started crying...so I knew it was time. Otherwise, we, I, would be so stressed out picking you up every time you cried during sleepy time.

I hope tonight goes smoother. You slept from 7:30pm to 9am this morning with only a couple wakes for eating!