Woo Hoo!!

After several heart-wrenching nights of putting Emma to bed, only to have her wake up screaming minutes, if not seconds, after being put into the crib and taking hours to get back down, I decided to apply my psychological expertise and do a bit of shaping. After all, that's all that these "sleep training" programs (whether Ferber or Pantley method) are at their base.

Monday night: Bedtime routine, rock to sleep, put in crib, cue screaming after literally 30 seconds in the crib, and Mommy patted, shushed and gently sang to Emma without picking her back up out of the crib. Each time she sat up, I gently put her back on her side or belly. It took about 45 minutes after that initial scream, but she went back to sleep. First time in months Emma has fallen asleep at night on her own without being rocked.

Tuesday night: Bedtime routine, rock to sleep, put in crib, screaming after 10 seconds in the crib, and Mommy patted and shushed. This time it took 30 minutes for her to go back to sleep.

Wednesday night: Bedtime routine, put into crib after 2 minutes of rocking just for cuddles, and 10 minutes of patting in the crib. She fell asleep! Very little crying, no screaming at all.

Monday night she lasted 2 hours in the crib before waking up, last night she lasted 2 1/2 hours in the crib before crying. Who knows about tonight, but I'm VERY proud of my little girl and I think we're well on our way (temporarily, at least) to falling asleep on our own in our crib. I'm definitely not giving up the co-sleeping for now because it's really the only time I get to cuddle with her, but I imagine by the time she's a year old, she may be ready to stay in her crib a lot longer. I'm letting her dictate how long she can be in the crib before needing her first feeding of the night.

I also have a big WOO HOO about daycare. The last two days she has eaten so well! She took 15 oz of milk (everything I brought in) yesterday, and she took 14 oz today! She's never eaten that much at daycare. I'm thrilled. I think we may be turning a corner with the feeding.

Who would have ever thought that I would be so happy and so amazed at something as simple as sleep and eating? My baby girl amazes me. Happy 7 months old Emma!