The long cry good night
It seems that two days ago nature flipped another little switch in Genevieve's head and our daughter has passed a new developmental milestone. I'm not talking about the rolling over or grasping for toys. I'm talking about the ability to wake up for no reason in the middle of the night and cry. In the past she would wake up because there was some basic necessity that was missing either warmth, food or cleanliness. However, this is no longer the case. She is more than happy to wake up for no good reason and cry.
The first night when this occurred she woke up at 5AM in the morning. We assumed that due to the fact that she hadn't eaten too much the night before she was just hungry earlier than usual. Carrie groggily tramped off into the nursery and fed baby G. However, last night she woke up at 1AM, 3AM and again at 4:30 AM. At first Carrie gave her a pacifier and went back to bed. Then for the second event she gave her gripe water and a pacifier. By the third event we had both had it. We decided to pow-wow. Sure it was early, but we weren't sleeping. We discussed our options. We could go in there again and soothe her or we could let her cry it out. We both agreed she wasn't crying out of need. Instead of the wails of an unhappy child she was instead making the whines of a bored baby. These whimpers occasionally erupted in a cry or two but quickly subsided back to whines. We decided to let her cry it out.
At 4:45 we had another discussion. Should we go in or wait some more. Waiting was the order of the day and we both tried unsuccessfully to resume our slumber. At 5:00 AM something had to be done. We reviewed all of the things that could be bothering her and came up with only one possibility. Since she hadn't had a poop since last Wednesday perhaps she was dirty. She doesn't always give a full cry for a dirty diaper. I volunteered to go and inspect.
If Genevieve was truly crying out of boredom I wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of being taken out of her crib. This would only reinforce the fact that whimpering gets you results. So instead of taking her to the changing table and inspecting her diaper I decided to play Russian roulette. I unzipped her sleeper and rolled her onto her side. I gave a sniff as best I could. Inconclusively there was no odor. After some hesitation, I decided to tempt fate and plunged my finger between the diaper and her bottom. Hoping to feel nothing but a dry diaper but fearing the toxic sludge I might encounter I wiggled my finger. Nothing but a slightly Vaselined cotton weave. Whew. I dodged a bullet on that one. I zipped her back up, gave her a pacifier and went back to bed.
The crying continued until about 5:15. At 5:15 AM she stopped crying. The hiss of the baby monitor seemed like music to my ears. It was over or was it. Unfortunately, it wasn't. At 5:18 she resumed her whimpering. Carrie could take it no longer. She was going to go in there and feed her. "Be strong," I said. "Don't encourage her," I cautioned. Carrie waited. By 5:20 the whines were now about 20 seconds apart and by 5:30 she had cried herself to sleep.
I was warned by some parents that letting your kid cry themselves to sleep is one of the most difficult things to do but I had no idea. For some parents it is probably the anguish over letting your kid suffer. For us it was more the anguish of not getting any rest. Let's hope tonight is better.
The first night when this occurred she woke up at 5AM in the morning. We assumed that due to the fact that she hadn't eaten too much the night before she was just hungry earlier than usual. Carrie groggily tramped off into the nursery and fed baby G. However, last night she woke up at 1AM, 3AM and again at 4:30 AM. At first Carrie gave her a pacifier and went back to bed. Then for the second event she gave her gripe water and a pacifier. By the third event we had both had it. We decided to pow-wow. Sure it was early, but we weren't sleeping. We discussed our options. We could go in there again and soothe her or we could let her cry it out. We both agreed she wasn't crying out of need. Instead of the wails of an unhappy child she was instead making the whines of a bored baby. These whimpers occasionally erupted in a cry or two but quickly subsided back to whines. We decided to let her cry it out.
At 4:45 we had another discussion. Should we go in or wait some more. Waiting was the order of the day and we both tried unsuccessfully to resume our slumber. At 5:00 AM something had to be done. We reviewed all of the things that could be bothering her and came up with only one possibility. Since she hadn't had a poop since last Wednesday perhaps she was dirty. She doesn't always give a full cry for a dirty diaper. I volunteered to go and inspect.
If Genevieve was truly crying out of boredom I wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of being taken out of her crib. This would only reinforce the fact that whimpering gets you results. So instead of taking her to the changing table and inspecting her diaper I decided to play Russian roulette. I unzipped her sleeper and rolled her onto her side. I gave a sniff as best I could. Inconclusively there was no odor. After some hesitation, I decided to tempt fate and plunged my finger between the diaper and her bottom. Hoping to feel nothing but a dry diaper but fearing the toxic sludge I might encounter I wiggled my finger. Nothing but a slightly Vaselined cotton weave. Whew. I dodged a bullet on that one. I zipped her back up, gave her a pacifier and went back to bed.
The crying continued until about 5:15. At 5:15 AM she stopped crying. The hiss of the baby monitor seemed like music to my ears. It was over or was it. Unfortunately, it wasn't. At 5:18 she resumed her whimpering. Carrie could take it no longer. She was going to go in there and feed her. "Be strong," I said. "Don't encourage her," I cautioned. Carrie waited. By 5:20 the whines were now about 20 seconds apart and by 5:30 she had cried herself to sleep.
I was warned by some parents that letting your kid cry themselves to sleep is one of the most difficult things to do but I had no idea. For some parents it is probably the anguish over letting your kid suffer. For us it was more the anguish of not getting any rest. Let's hope tonight is better.
posted by daniel @ 10:07 PM
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