Baby Cries the Blues

Last night I decided that I should try getting Ava on a sleep schedule. She is 4 months old as of yesterday and she, like most babies, loves to fall asleep being held. In fact, she prefers to sleep only when being held...which can be a bit of a problem if I want to do some chores, make some dinner and get some sleep myself.

I've read a number of advice columns about getting baby to sleep and there really aren't that many different approaches. You either let her cry it out or you don't. I prefer the option of not having Ava cry but she has gotten to the point that as soon as her head touches her crib mattress, she will cry to be picked up.

So today is the day we start our sleep training. After a happy morning of playing, eating and getting dressed, I nursed Ava until she was sleepy. While she was still awake, I placed her in her crib and turned on her mobile. She has a very sweet mobile that responds to her sounds. She watched the mobile go round and round for about 10 minutes while I tidied up the bedroom and folded her laundry. I then sat next to her crib and softly told her night-night. She cried. And she cried. I read her a story with her still in the crib. She cried. I patted her gently. She cried. I retreated to the shower for a quick reprieve. She was still crying. It had been about 20 minutes at this point and she didn't seem anywhere close to settling down. I remained calm. Rubbed her head while she cried and then sat down in the room waiting. She continued to cry. After about 35 minutes, she would stop crying for brief periods and watch her mobile. She rubbed her eyes and nose. She cried some more. She tried to suck on her fist. She cried some more. Finally after 45 minutes, she was asleep!