genius shminus.

Today I am of the opinion that I am obsessing about Camden's sleeping WAY too much. And I also have concluded that that Healthy Sleep Habits author is, in fact, not a genius. Cam struggled to go down at 730 last night. I put him down, left the room and then he fussed. And instead of subsiding, it escalated! I let him cry for almost 10 minutes and then couldn't take it. Went in to soothe him and he was all the way at the end of his crib thrashing around. Poor guy. Gave him a pacifier and he fell asleep. But then he got up at 830, then 930 and finally stayed asleep til midnight. Fed him at midnight, put him down awake and he fell asleep on his own in a few minutes. He got up at 530am, fed him again and he fell asleep on his own quickly and got up for the day at 8am.

I don't know what to think. Clearly, Cam CAN put himself to sleep cause he does it at midnight and 530am. He did it yesterday for both naps but then today, couldn't put himself to sleep for his 10am nap. He cried and I had to go in and give him a pacifier.

I really don't think I can let him "cry it out" for more than 10 minutes. Even that seems long to me. I know he has to learn to soothe himself back to sleep but what if by not responding to him, it gets worse because he feels like we're not meeting his need for us to help him sleep? I don't want to create bad sleep habits (i.e. needing us to always be there to help him settle down) but what's the "limit" to letting him figure it out on his own vs. him losing trust in us?

Plus, this guy's method kinda makes you a slave to the nap schedule. I know babies need to nap pretty consistently, but mommies and daddies need to have lives too.

Then, part of me thinks that I have too much information at my disposal but at the same time not enough. I know just enough to make me crazy but since I'm a first-time mom and not an expert or doctor, it makes me doubt what I'm doing and then obsess about the possible consequences of my actions. Sigh.

Brian thinks I need to relax more. He's probably right. I need to figure out the balance between following my instincts and using the knowledge that I have on babies, sleeping, and all these "methods." Honestly, Cam isn't really a problem sleeper. Not compared to other babies his age. But I'm trying to prevent problems in the future by hopefully setting up good sleep habits now. But I also need to remember that he's still young and maybe he's just not ready to completely soothe himself or "cry it out."

For those mommies who have gone through this, when did your kids sleep through the night? How'd they get to that point? And at what age? Boy, mommyhood is a tough job.