Crying it out?

[champagne27]

Good luck MayMom! Glad you had a full night's sleep - just be prepared for some setbacks - I hope you don't encounter them but I did. I would get 2 good nights then 2 bad, etc. But it did keep getting better and better. DS2 was much harder then DD4. I remember nights when I would check on him to make sure ok - then leave and turn on both bathroom fans, and go run the dryer and do dishes with the water running to drown it out the crying/screaming. There were nights in the beginning (started this at about 9months) he could cry for 2-3 hours.

Just remember you are not alone and not a bad parent - different styles are ok - and I doubt any kids will be traumatized whether they COI or if they co-slept, if they are provided a safe secure and loving environment.

As hard as it was listening to the crying, I guarantee you I was a MUCH better and MUCH more pleasant and patient mom when I got my full night's sleep. That is what worked for our family but everyone has what works for them.

Take care to all the moms out there who are trying to do what is best for their family situation.

 

[Diz-Mommy]

Hi Tinkerbellmama!
I'm the Fockerizer you are taking about
We are taking Tyler in December too. It sounds like our boys are about the same age, and I very much enjoy breastfeeding too! I think we must be living paralle lives here! Tyler co-sleept with us till he outgrew his craddle. I was and am still not comfortable letting our son sleep in our bed. DH and I are heavy sleepers, and I figure heavy sleepers and little babies don't mix. Whatever works for you though, you are so very right about it being a good thing that we don't have to get approval from others when it comes to making decisions on how to raise our children.

maybe we'll walk past each other at Mickey's place

QUESTION-Does your family think you are just nuts for taking a one year old to Disney?

 

[trayletha]

So any advice for a 15 month old who when he cries for an extended period of time vomits all over?

Actually a couple of things - he might be crying because when he is laying down he is getting some reflux, they could try putting a folded blanket under the mattress to prop it up. Or bring his car seat in and have him sleep in that even (worked for a friend whose daughter had it so bad she needed surgery). Good luck to your DD and her family - usually they out grow this.

 

[justhat]

Actually a couple of things - he might be crying because when he is laying down he is getting some reflux, they could try putting a folded blanket under the mattress to prop it up. Or bring his car seat in and have him sleep in that even (worked for a friend whose daughter had it so bad she needed surgery). Good luck to your DD and her family - usually they out grow this.

Very cute little girl, Trayletha!


My daughter does this too, but she's never laying down when she's crying so no reflux for her. In her case (she's 17 months old, BTW) she cries so hard that it initiates a gag reflex. First she'll start crying, then it escalates to a really hard cry, almost a scream, then she'll start coughing (partially I think from all the saliva that she doesn't have time to swallow cause she's crying nonstop). Once the coughing starts, she'll try to keep crying through it, then she'll gag, then gag so many times in a row that she'll vomit. Usually mostly saliva comes out, or she'll make a sort of barking noise while gagging, but other times it's food if she's eaten recently.

My cousin's baby had bad reflux, as well as feeding issues, and was very underweight, so he had to be on a continuous ng tube feeding all night long until he was 5 months old. The easiest way for them to do that was to let him sleep in his carseat in his crib, so that he could be fed all night long, not have reflux problems, and still sleep. At 15 months though that may nto work since most kids have outgrown the infant carseat and I don't think I could get my daughter to sleep in her Britax Marathon in her bed, it would probably tip over.

 

[MayMom]

I had something interesting to add to this -
Yesterday we took our 16 month old to the mall (about an hour from us). She is usually terrible in the car and screams her head off. She traveled SO well last night. Didn't cry - looked out the window, sang songs, etc. My husband and I were in shock. We kept looking at each other and grinning. I guess she has come to the conclusion that crying will not guarantee that she will get action from us! It was a much better car trip than we were used to ... and she is continuing to sleep great. Goes down with just a tiny amount of crying (less than a minute) As soon as we leave the room she stops. And she continues to sleep all night. I have not slept this well since she was born.

 

[justhat]

Madison used to scream like that in the car till she was about 9 months old. Then we moved her from her infant carseat to a convertible carseat and never heard another peep out of her.

 

[anabelle]

Wow, this thread reminded me of a time my DD cried for 6 hours straight on the way to PA. from Michigan. She wanted to be held and I was not going to take her out of her carseat. We let her cry it out. She lost her voice. I guess I was mean Mom but her safety was more important. I wasn't used to that kind of behavior because , by no training of mine, all my kids slept throught the night within a few months. The only time they woke up was when they were hungry. I did have a sleepwalker, though. Now that was scary.

 

[MayMom]

Anabelle - I have a sleepwalking question - My little boy gets up in the night walks over a few steps in various directions and PEES!!!! (did I spell that right???)
It would be much more funny if it wasn't so GROSS
Would this be considered sleepwalking?

 

[CleveRocks]

In his book about parenthood a few years back, comedian Paul Reiser joked that in doing the best thing for your child (letting them cry it out), you feel like you're doing eactly what the worst parent in the world would do, which is do nothing and let the baby cry.

Just think long-term gains versus short-term gains, not just for you but for your child, as well.

Easier said then done. My wife is a pediatrician. She used to have a column in a local newspaper, and about one month before we Ferberized our son she wrote about how helpful it is for the child and how successful it is. I must have read that column to her one hundred times over the nights when she cried more than our son and I had to stop her from going in there and comforting him. I think it was 2 nights and then done for good!

-- Eric

 

[MayMom]

Thanks Eric - and you were right - I put her in bed tonight and she smiled great big at me. I told her "I Love You" and walked out of her room. She rolled over and went to sleep. But when I think about some of those night - I still get a sick feeling in my belly!

 

[jodifla]

Thanks Eric - and you were right - I put her in bed tonight and she smiled great big at me. I told her "I Love You" and walked out of her room. She rolled over and went to sleep. But when I think about some of those night - I still get a sick feeling in my belly!

Glad you got to that point! It's a great feeling, isn't it?