I have broken Joseph’s spirit.
Wait, no, I really haven’t,
(let’s just say that the past few days have held many tantrums, Joseph hitting me repeatedly about the face, and the Google search “Christmas cactus poisonous?”),
but I have tamed the wild, early morning beast in him… just a little.
I had tried everything to get him to go back to sleep:
-A bottle in case he was hungry.
-Rocking and snuggling in case he was scared/lonely.
-Back patting.
-Shushing.
-Turning up the heat.
-Turning down the heat.
-I even told him that he could not have a little brother or sister to play with until he started sleeping past 6:00 consistently.
He remained unmoved.
So, I got (a little) tough.
Here’s how it goes down:
He cries (at 3:50-4:15 am…or earlier).
I curse.
He cries again.
I mutter something about the “joy of motherhood” being a sham.
I go into his room, let him hug me whilst not getting him out of the crib.
I quickly check to make sure that he hasn’t peed through his clothes, then “help him” lay down and rub his back for a few minutes.
I leave and run back to my warm bed.
He cries.
I cry.
I bring him a small drink in a sippy cup, and repeat the back rubbing session.
This goes on- with me going back in every few minutes- until he gives in and goes back to sleep for a little while.
Then, when he wakes up at a more appropriate time (6:00 is all I’m asking!), I turn on lights, start some coffee, and greet him with a cheerful-ish smile.
The good news is that I only had to do this for a couple of nights, and it seems like he may be catching on.
That is to say, that he is sleeping until at least 5:15, with an occasional 6:00 miracle.
But, mostly 5:15.
Close,
So close.
And yet, so far.
(Only children are nice…)
2 comments:
I do hope it gets better - tough love is sometimes much harder on the parents than the child. Thomas had his first timeout a couple days ago - I cried the whole 2 minutes too!
Sounds like you're doing everything right to me Caitlin! What a good Momma!
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