Some things for me to keep in mind tonight during the cry-fest:
-Comfort should come from Mom, not food
-One of the greatest things about babies is that they forgive, or more accurately, forget so quickly
-I promise he won't hold it against you in the morning
-It's harder for you than it will be for him
-It will pay off when he gets older
-You will be doing him a greater disservice by not helping to learn good sleep habits and be more independent
-It won't be hard forever, about a week at the longest, and then you will be kicking yourself for not doing it a lot earlier
I think that I am finally ready to really do this, which is great because I know that I have been the one standing in my own way all this time.
I still think it is kind of strange that by screaming himself to sleep he is learning to comfort himself, but apparently that is how it works. Weird, but I'm ready to give it a chance.
Here is tonight's plan:
I am not quite ready to go cold-turkey, since Riley has nursed every night his entire life and he is used to that full feeling (okay, I'm still being a little bit of a wimp, but bear with me as I plan on making this a quick transition). My plan is to feed him every 4 hours, instead of every 2. So, Riley went down to sleep at 7:45 tonight, and if he wakes up before 11:45 then I will go in his room and remind him that it is "Sleepy-time" and try to comfort him. If he is still crying after 10 minutes, then I will leave his room and he can cry until he falls asleep. In my experience, he usually cries no longer than 20-30 minutes before falling asleep, which I believe I can handle. I will keep repeating this, eating every 4 hours and comforting in between, until it is time for me to get up for my workout at 5 AM.
I apologize to the neighbors with whom we share a wall with in advance. Sorry, but in a short while we will ALL be sleeping better.
Wish me luck! I will report back in the morning!
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