Sleep!

This is for Ethan, when he's older and has his own kids.
So Ethan was a great night sleeper from the get go. By two months he was sleeping through the night in his own room. I loved it. Even though I don't sleep well, it's great to be able to when I was actually able to sleep. He's always been a poopy nap sleeper, but great night sleeper.

Right before we went to Arizona, than got a cold. He was up most of the night and so I brought him to sleep with us. When we went to Arizona, he wouldn't sleep in the pack and play and since I didn't want to wake up my Dad or Karen, I just let him sleep with us. I do NOT like him sleeping with us. Jeff always says he likes it or doesn't mind, but I do mind. When we got back from Arizona, I went to Missouri, then we went back to Missouri for Thanksgiving. I would try to put him in his own bed when we were home, but he would cry and it made me sad so I always brought him back.
I decided that enough was enough. He wouldn't take naps unless I was holding him or would lay with him in our bed, he wouldn't go to sleep at night without me. That was it. I am worn out and not doing real great anyway. So I asked the Dr. and she said to let him cry it out.

Day 1:
Morning nap, I laid him down about 11:30. He screamed (of course). I did what I read, which was to go in after 5 minutes, console him for a minute without picking him up and then leave again, even if he was crying. Then give him 10 minutes, then 15 and so on. Each time, I think it made it worse when I walked out. It was horrible. So I quit going in. I tried to keep myself busy, which should have been easy, but it was AWFUL! I couldn't think, I was sad he was crying... the whole bit. My friend Kim came over for lunch. He was still crying. She said to let him cry, he would stop eventually and go to sleep. After 2 hours and 15 minutes I couldn't take it anymore. I ran in to get him. The second I opened his door, I regretted it. I looked at him and 1. he had NO tears and 2. the second he saw me, he had a big smile on his face. I KNEW he was smiling because he won.
Afternoon nap: He cried for about 35 minutes and fell asleep, but only slept for about 20 minutes.
Around 7 he fell asleep in my arms, for about an hour. I knew Jeff was going to be home late and we were going to go to dinner late, so I wasn't going to put him to bed right at 8. So I let him sleep.
Night time: We got home a little after 9. Ethan played with Dad for a little bit. I knew he was exhausted, but I wanted him that way. I fed him in his rocking chair, sang to him a little and put him in his bed. He cried for about 30 minutes and was totally out. He woke up about 5 times in the night, but always fell right back to sleep on his own. Once he cried longer than usual and instead of running in there, I turned the monitor off. He was asleep in about 3-4 minutes. He slept until 7 this morning. WOOT WOOT!

Day 2:
Morning nap is a little early. He is so tired, I think from getting up early and going to bed late. I nurse him in his rocker for a few minutes. But he's crabby. So I sing to him and then lay him in his bed. He screamed bloody murder for about 2 minutes and then just cried for about 45 minutes. He's asleep now. Yeah. Oh wait. He only slept 15 minutes...
After nap: He cried for about an hour and 15 minutes. He woke up after about 15, but I KNEW he was still so tired. He cried for about 20 more and then fell asleep again. He slept about an hour.
He's improving!
Night time: This was the hardest so far, not because of him, but me... I wanted to hold him and snuggle with him for a while... I fed him, sang to him, rocked him until he was pretty sleepy. I laid him in his bed. He freaked of course, but he started freaking before I even made near his bed. He knew what was coming. He cried for less than 15 minutes, and it wasn't even crying. It was more of a moany groany yell... But it wasn't loud, more irritated than anything. He slept till 8am, only waking up once! Yeah! It's getting better!
Day 3
Morning nap - on the road in the car seat. Piece of cake. :)
Afternoon nap - he cried about 5 minutes, but only slept 30. He did this twice
Bedtime - Ahhhh... He cried not even two minutes and was out.

It's hard, so hard to hear him cry. But the older he gets, the harder it will be to break. I refuse to let him sleep with me until he goes to school. That is MY bed. I like my space at night, i like to flip around and so forth. So I am determined to help him RE-learn to sleep on his own.

So it's now day 5. The nights are beautiful. He sleeps from 8-8. Cried tonight for one little wimper and rolled over and went to sleep. The naps are still a pain, but getting better too. I'm not fighting those as I am so grateful for the 12 hours at night!