We would like some advice from the parents out there. For the past three weeks or so Ariana has started waking up at 2, 3 or 4 in the morning, random times, no schedule . The month before she finally started sleeping in until about 6 or 7. Now she rarely sleeps through the night. Do you:
A. Pick her up after one or two minutes, try to soothe her and give her a bottle.
B. Let her cry for 5 minutes or so to see if she will go back to sleep and give her a bottle if she doesn´t.
C. Ignore her completely, she´ll go back to sleep eventually.
Any thoughts on the subject would be very appreciated!
8 comments:
Well I am definitely no expert but I would probably let her cry for about 20 mins and see what happens. If she doesn't go back to sleep then maybe she really is hungry or whatever. Could she be teething? Well good luck! Parenthood is the biggest guessing game I swear!!
I think one or two minutes of waiting is as much as I could take. I know, I know, my girls had me wrapped around their fingers.
My Dr is huge on letting them cry it out. Once they are over 6 or 9 months, can't remember, she said, if you know they are ok, let them cry. Don't go give them a binkie, blanket or bottle or they will start training you and them. We are the parents and need to sleep. Make sure they have enough to eat before bed and they should sleep through the night. It all comes to training the babies from the start. Brock started waking at 9 months and I would go take care of him, and we finally let him cry two nights and it was over. My DR said get a pair of ear plugs b/c it's hard to hear your baby cry. It will work and it has paid off big. Good luck. Do what feel best to you, and stick to it. If you give in once, you have to start over.
Hey Katie! I say do it all. We had to try a few things with Savannah to see what would work for her. I think that I did end up giving her a bottle for a while... I wanted my sleep. I can't believe that you are in Panama! How crazy is that! Where are you living? I am so jealous. I want to be there for the open house! It's just not going to work out for me. Dave's job is sort of up in the air right now. I guess I figured that we couldn't afford it. If you ever see anyone... Let them know that I love them and miss them. I need to write better. Tell them to email me. I'm really bad with letters. I hope you are doing great!! Talk to you soon!
Jamie
So what is working? Have you tried any of the ideas?
We went to her doctor´s appointment yesterday and he also said we need to put her down more and let her cry more. She freaked when I handed her over to him. He said while it is normal to be attached, she is a bit exaggerated. Today I let her cry herself to sleep (as I laid next to her bed - I know - I´m lame) and it only took like 5 minutes. We´ve never let her cry that long - again, I know...
That was for naps. We are still giving her bottles at night bc we are at a beach house with Manuel and Chelsea and kids and I don´t want her to wake up all the kids at 2am, we will work on that one when we get home (in 10 more days, yay-loving the beach).
Thanks for all the advice, and keep it coming if you have any!
Amen to all that was said by your sweet friends. I remember (vaguely) going through that and we tried a lot of things but letting them cry and checking on them, gives them assurance you are still there, just out of sight and they finally give up and go to sleep, knowing you are going to come in again and check on them some time soon. Be very careful with bottles. Christy's teeth all rotted out before they even grew in because of a bottle (and nursing) at night. If she has teeth coming in, be sure to wipe them clean after feedings, with a tiny drop of toothpaste and soft rag or baby toothbrush. You'll be glad you did.
The Acosta family comment is just right! That is exactly what I have done, and it should work!
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