Cry it out

Last night I did not get up one time for Ryleigh. I had resolved in my head, that 6-months of waking up and GETTING up two or more times a night was ENOUGH.

Before we gave Ryleigh her bath, (while she was still awake and happy), I put her in her crib with about 15 pacifiers. We "practiced" picking them up and putting them in her mouth. I would pat her arms to her sides and let her feel around to find a pacifier, then she would automatically bring it to her mouth. Most of the time, they ended up sideways or upside down if she got them in her mouth at all, but nevertheless, it was practice.

She took her full bottle before bed, so I knew she would fall asleep fast. By the time Jesse and I were ready for bed, I still had not heard a peep from her. I took a Benadryl so I would be extra drowsy and not lay wide awake listening to her cry.

Sure enough, around midnight, I heard the cry through the monitor. I turned the monitor way down, and turned back over. I listened for a few minutes as she fussed and tossed around, but then I fell asleep. I have no idea how long she fussed. She woke me up again around 1:30, but the same story happened. I listened for about 30 seconds, and was too tired (thanks, Benadryl!) to do much, and fell back asleep. I woke up around 3:30 and went to go check on her though she was not crying, and she was sound asleep...bear in mouth. I guess she found another way to soothe herself.

Ryleigh woke up around 7:00 am this morning, and came in bed with me for some snuggle/play time. I was so happy! There was definitely no all-out wailing as I had expected. I'm going to keep this new trend up and really let her learn how to soothe herself. It is just ridiculous to be getting up still, when she is not sick, teething, or hungry.

I'm sure now that I said that she is going to start teething for sure... :)