The parenting community as a whole, and mothers of finicky sleepers in particular, gasped in collective outrage a few months ago when Ferber recanted. For those who don’t know, Dr. Ferber was- I mean is- a sleep expert who advocated a very structured procedure for teaching your baby to fall, and stay, asleep. Countless women have “ferberized” their babies. With Juliette I used a modified Ferber method; I had to modify it since her crib was still in our room. Basically, I put her in it, got into bed, and then ignored her. For several nights, she stood in her crib holding onto the railings and screaming at me. Eventually, though, she exhausted herself and fell asleep. And after a few nights, she just resigned herself and went to sleep without screaming. I don’t remember how old she was, but I know she finally had her own room at 10 months. I remember her standing in her crib, rattling the railings. By deductive reasoning she must have been around 9 months old.
Cosette is almost 9 months old.
I am tired. I crave a full nights sleep. Cosette was once the baby who wouldn’t stay awake. Now she has become the baby who won’t go to sleep. But not for long…
Now that I am ready to begin the "Campaign to get Cosette to Sleep", I was counting on Ferber to come through for me yet again. To be completely truthful, his book is collecting dust in the basement; I havn’t read it since Juliette was a baby. I vaguely remember the details, though, and I am going to follow my instinct a bit too. So we'll call my plan the Modified Ferber Method for Getting Cosette to Sleep Through the Night. Here is my journal
Day 1: cried for 1 hr. Checked her once, which made it worse. Woke up twice during the night, nursed her both times. Slept until 7:15.
Day 2: went right to sleep. (OK, it was in my arms, which is definitely not "allowed", but sometimes you just can't help it. She was so peaceful, smiling and actually laughing in her sleep. It was the most beautiful thing to see. But I digress... )Woke up twice, nursed her both times, slept until 7:25.
Day 3: cried for 30 minutes. Slept for 30 minutes. Woke up and cried for 10 minutes. Slept again for five hours. Woke up twice, nursed her both times. Slept until 7:30.
Day 4: cried for 10 minutes. Started crying before I put her in the crib, in fact, which gives me hope- it makes me think she is learning the routine. Woke 3 times, nursed her all three times, slept until 8:00.
Day 5: cried for 30 minutes- we are going backwards. However, as I recall, that happens sometimes. Woke up 3 times- once due to the departure of all her dad's poker buddies. Slept until 7:30.
Day 6: cried for 30 minutes. Woke up at 10:00; wouldn't be soothed sans boobage but I wouldn't provide said boobage, so she cried for 40 minutes. (I watched SpiderMan 2. It's much easier to tolerate the crying when you have something to distract you.) Woke up twice more, nursed her both times, slept until 8:00. (All that crying takes a lot out of you.)
Day 7: Cried for 5 minutes. Woke up twice, nursed her both times. Was woken by her sister at 6:50 am, completely disrupting my morning routine and putting me into a very grumpy mood.
Final thoughts at the end of week one:
Well, Cosette only cried for 5 minutes last night. Also, she has begun to actually nap again. Perhaps this will work after all! Perhaps a full night of uninterrupted sleep is in my future! Stay tuned for further installments...
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