Mommy Nose Reporting On Putting The Baby To Sleep in 10 MINUTES!!!

 

Baby Nose is one year old! Hurray!  And now it has come time to get him to go to sleep with out the titty. Oh no!  What to do?  I've been cheating for a year letting him fall asleep on my boob and now I am weaning him.  Yikes!  How is he going to go to sleep now?  MOMMY NOSE HAS A SECRET FOR YOU AND IT WORKED LIKE A CHARM FOR ME!

Of course, there are a dozen various opinions on how to put your baby to sleep. And as we all know opinions are like anal glands. We all have them.  This is my experience and what I did. As far as I know this one is original and meets a compromise of the two controversial worlds on how to put your munchkin to sleep with out destroying his psyche.

There is the cry it out and leave them in their crib for 2 to 3 hours to be hysterical and then eventually they will exhaust themselves and pass out. After a few days, bingo!  They say the baby will just go to sleep on his own and no more problems. Of course then another set of opinions enter the story here and exclaim that leaving a child to cry it out is what they do in the Russian orphanages and the babies turn out to be non functioning adults.  The studies have shown these babies are anti social, insecure and have a pessimistic view of the world - that their needs will never be met. Why? Because when they were helpless little balls of fat they were left to cry it out and the message they got was that their cries will go unheard and no one cares.

The second set of opinions say to stay with your baby and rock him until he falls asleep and under no conditions are you to leave him alone to "Cry it out."  Have patience and sing to the little bugger. If you sing off key and he cries more - then you better sign up for singing lessons.  Of course there is the swing and that is a God sent, but what do you do when he's too big for the swing that only is good up to 25 pounds?  Do you install a heavy duty swing in your living room?  I rent. My land lord wouldn't approve.

 

Here is my compromise and what I did. Note that I did this when he turned one and was walking and liked to play in his room. I completely baby proofed his room and basically turned the entire place into a crib. I turned the crib into a toddler bed and put up a safety rail on the crib so he could easily climb in and out of his crib, but could also go to sleep in it with out falling out.   I installed a safety gate at the entrance to his bedroom so that I could keep his door wide open, but he could get out of his room.

Every night at bed time I would take him upstairs to his room, I would shut the gate then set him down to play a little. I would sit in a big comfy over sized chair I put in there for sleepy time.  I sat in the chair and silently watched him play. Every two minutes I would say "It's bed time." Then I would encourage him to come sit in my lap.  Now I would read him a very quiet bed time story from a picture book of animals, but I made up my own story where all the animals were getting tired and ready for bed. 

Finally I had all the animals tell Baby Nose goodnight. 

At this point Little Nose would start to squirm and put up a fight. The story was over and he wanted down. There was no way he was going to bed now! So I said, "Mommy tired. Gabriel tired. It's bedtime.  He would walks over to his gate and shake it and start to cry. I then replied, "Gabriel wants out. Gabriel is upset." He would look at him and then I would say, "And it's bed time."  Then he would start to have a little fit. 

So I said, "Gabriel has two choices. Gabriel come to mommy and go bedtime or Mommy go downstairs for ten minutes and Gabriel can stay here and go to bed." Now he was screaming.  Now let me tell you this. I had tried a few nights of holding him until he passed out. He would cry just as loudly and he fought just as hard and it was taking 3 hours to get this kid to sleep!  So I was half deaf from the crying and screaming and I was equally exhausted.  So this night I got up slowly and headed for the exit gate to his room. I opened and walked out and closed it. He shrieked in dismay. I got down at his level and I said, "Mommy go downstairs for 10 minutes and then I will be back. It's bed time. Mommy loves you and it's bedtime."

It broke my heart to walk away and go downstairs, but I was comforted by knowing I wasn't leaving him for 2 hours to cry it out, I was leaving him for 10 minutes. I would go out on my balcony and call a friend and tell them what I was up to.  After ten minutes, I would go back up stairs and he would immediately climb into my arms and with in 15 to 20 minutes Baby Nose was out cold!  But wait, there is more!

I did this for 5 nights in a row. On the fifth night, my mother said, "But how does he know he has a choice? How can he process or understand that you are giving him a choice to crawl into your arms and go to sleep or to be left alone for ten minutes. He can't possibly understand this."  I went back upstairs and like clock work, Baby Nose crawled into my arms and went to sleep again.  And the sun rose the next morning and I pondered what my mother had said and I felt guilty. What if I was doing it wrong? What if this wasn't working!  And then tonight, the miracle!  We went upstairs and I sat in the big comfy chair and Baby Nose walked over and crawled into my arms. I read the book and all the animals said good night and so did I. I closed the book and waited for the fit, but this time no fit came. He laid in my arms and I held him. It was beautiful. I miss nursing him, but I must say this was even more intimate and wonderful. Once he started to squirm and I just held him and told him, "Mommy is here. Mommy loves you. It's bed time." He relaxed and MADE THE CHOICE to stay in Mommies arms rather than have a ten minute cry. 

He is sound asleep upstairs as I write this and it took 20 minutes to put him to bed tonight.  We shall see what tomorrow brings, but I must say that this compromise has helped me tremendously, and I hope it helps you too!

 

By the way, if you are wondering "Well, what is she going to do? Put the baby to sleep in her arms for the rest of his life?" The answer is  ..... At least until he's forty years old. Of course I said I would breast feed until he went to college and he's been weaned at 13 months old. There you have it!  Seriously, if this works then it will work in a few months when we begin the transition from the chair to his bed. And then I will sit next to him as he goes to sleep. And then a few months later we will transition to me sitting in the comfy chair while he goes to sleep in his bed.  And then the big step when he goes to bed by himself. But, can we at least give that a few more years. Personally, bed time is the best time of day for me now!  There's nothing more satisfying than having your beautiful little baby curl up and go to sleep in your arms!

 

Peace out,  Mommy Nose