Rock-a-Bye

Posted on | January 19, 2011 | 10 Comments

We still rock J to sleep.

I know that raises a lot of eyebrows. There are a lot of babies who are younger than J who can just be placed in their crib with a little kiss on the forehead and they happily go to sleep. J is not one of those babies. He wants to be held. He wants someone in the room with him when he drifts off to sleep.  And really, that’s a product of Husband and I. I’m sure we could have successfully “sleep trained” him through one method or another but we just didn’t. Why? Because hearing my son cry is too much for me. It’s too much for me when I know that he is quiet if Husband or I am in there with him. And ultimately, quiet is more important to me than TV time, or me time, or blog time… or whatever. I just want him happy and quiet.

Husband has been on me for a while to try something new. He wants to let J cry it out. So tonight, it was Husband’s turn to put J to bed. Every time it’s MY turn, I get a lot of raised eyebrows about how often I go back in when he calls me or how long I stay in the nursery after beginning the process. So tonight, I was all for letting Husband do it Husband’s way. He took J to bed and ten minutes later, he emerged. Triumphant. Baby asleep and all is… cue crying.

Husband went back to the nursery.

Second Take, same results. When we were just about to begin take three, Husband announced that NO ONE was going back into the nursery. He stage whispered that it was time for J to learn to sleep on his own and that he refused to go back into the nursery. He then gave me the stink eye and told me he “forbid me” from going into the nursery and babying him. I smiled. I nodded.

It wasn’t my night.

After about five minutes of wailing and screaming, J hit jackpot.

One little breath. One pause. One mournfully plaintive “dada?” followed by a chorus of sniffles and sighs and Husband was a goner.

J was rocked to sleep by his Daddy tonight.

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Comments

  • amy

    Raised eyebrows? Not from here! Neither of the kiddos slept through the night (or really went to bed by themselves) until sometime around 20 months to 2 years. I cursed and complained through several months of it.

    Now? They both go to bed on their own with no real “bed routine” and sleep all night.

    And I miss rocking and snuggling and back rubbing. ;)

  • TheNextMartha

    awe. My 2nd was like that. Don’t worry, he’ll grow out of it. I mean rocking an 85lb kid is damn near impossible.

  • http://arrrj.wordpress.com Andrea

    I’m jealous you can rock him to sleep! B has never let us do that. If this is how putting J to bed works for you guys, then that’s what works. He’s not going to go to college with you rocking him to sleep. =)

  • Heather

    I think every kid has a different personality, and what works for one, doesn’t necessarily work for another.

    What kills me is that Rebecca will NEVER go down for a nap happily. Each and every time, there are tears. Granted, sometimes it will last all of 30 seconds, but I wish she would for once just kinda be like “Okay, nap time. Sounds good. See ya in a few hours”. My theory is that she just doesn’t want to miss any of the action… at least that’s what I keep telling myself.

  • Keya

    Keep on rockin’ mommma. We do it too. We did some sleep training at 8 months and it worked but then somehow we reverted back to rocking to sleep in our arms and then we gently lay him down in his crib. There are, of course, moments when there are a few tears shed but I try to keep that to a minimum.

  • http://legallyinsanemommy.wordpress.com/ LegallyINsaneMommy

    My first child slept 4 hours straight from day one and was sleeping on her own all night long by age 1 ish. She was (and is) a great sleeper. My 2 year old has slept through the night entirely maybe 3 times in his life. I’ve tried crying it out and can’t make it past 5 minutes. I’ve tried the No Cry Sleep solution. I’ve tried it all. What works is letting him fall asleep in my arms while I work on the couch, moving him to my bed and letting him snuggle and sleep with us. We all sleep well and everyone wakes happy. So do what works. And enjoy it. Because pretty soon they are 6, turning 7, and hiding out in their own room because mommy isn’t cool.

  • Stephanie

    Oh Girl! I still rock mine to sleep everynight and for naptime. He will not sleep for my husband either. I had the stomach flu during CHristmas and had to put mine to bed in between throwing up b/c he was just not having any part of Dada putting him to sleep. Luckily my mom can get him to sleep too. I guess if he didn’t have either one of us, he might just never sleep!! I have yet to spend the night away from mine (the same age as J) and have no intention of doing that anytime soon. I work outside of the home too and I cherish every bedtime with my baby b/c all too soon he’s not going to be a baby anymore and I’ll stop finding pacifiers in my purse and car and pockets and he’ll no longer want me to rock him to sleep and kiss him a million times and snuggle with him. Mine doesn’t sleep through the night still and when he wakes up crying for me I go in the nursery and sleep with him in the recliner. Mommy hasn’t had a good night sleep since I was pregnant with him!!!

  • http://mamahudd.blogspot.com MamaHudd

    Granted my little one is just 2 months old, I am not quite sure how she’ll sleep in a few months. Right now, she’s great. Sleeps about 6 hours a night. But before I put her in her crib, I rock her. I got a paper from the Doctor’s office about “caring for your 2 month old” and it mentioned putting the baby in the crib when they are drowsy, not completely asleep. Um, no thanks. I’ve tried that only to hear her cry as she realizes she’s awake and not in my arms. I’m with you, do what works!

  • http://www.mom-nom.com Tiffany @MomNom

    We rock too. But she can also just be laid down some nights. Don’t tell the mafia…but I prefer the rocking nights. xoxo

  • http://www.taminginsanity.com KLZ

    You know when he was forbidding you he was actually talking to himself, right?




  • I'm a divorced, single mom to a pre-schooler, a full-time attorney, and a semi-reluctant vegetarian. I work hard and when given the chance, I play hard... but I'm almost never given the chance.

    I think fart jokes are funny, I'm pretty sure magic is real, and my life long dream is to buy a farm and write a novel while watching horses run around at a respectable distance. (Because horses are scary up close. Seriously.)

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