Sleep Training

If you are a parent, the names Ferber and Sears are probably very familiar to you.  From the day our baby is born, we are instructed on baby sleep.  At the hospital we are told, do not co-sleep with your baby and make sure your baby is placed on his/her back.  At home we have well-intended parents, grandparents, and friends all giving advice on how to get your child to sleep.  You get on the internet and there are books and experts all sharing their theoretical, biological, psychological, sociological, and clinical theories on sleep.  And all you can personally think about is how you wish you could get some sleep yourself.  So, you take in all this information and start the trial and error process (cause seriously lets admit it, a lot of parenting is trial and error and making educated guesses).

Thankfully, our sweet Evangline was a good sleeper.  In the beginning you had your day and night switched but with bright lights and loud noises during the day, and darkness and quiet during the night, you quickly got your day and night corrected.  Otherwise, you went down quickly, you slept on your own well, and when you woke up, you would just play in your crib until someone came to get you.  We were very blessed in the sleep department.

We actually transitioned you into a full-size bed early because you were so determined to crawl out of your crib.  Again, you transitioned well and we had no major problems.  But we always emphsized the importance of sleeping on your own, learning to fall asleep by yourself, and being an independent sleeper.

Interestingly, about a few months ago, pappa bear and I would wake up and find you in our bed.  Neither one of us would have any idea how you got there, especially since when you're awake our bed is too high for you to climb into.  Although I totally assumed pappa bear was lifting you into our bed, he denied it.  Since you've been born, you've also sleep trained me into being a slightly lighter sleeper.  I used to sleep like a log but now I am at least consciously aware when you cry out.  Well, now you do it every night.  Between 2 AM and 4 AM, you quietly sleepwalk into our room, and somehow you climb up into the bed, and snuggle between pappa bear and myself.

My first inclination was to tell you when you were awake that you need to sleep in your own room, but you don't seem to have much memory of coming into our room.  Then I tried stopping you in your sleep, but then you just cry and cry and all any of us want is to just get some sleep.  Then my mom said something interesting, she said, "Why is it in American culture you try to train your babies to be independent sleepers at such an early age?  There's value in kids sleeping with their parents, it helps them feel secure and loved.  I bet kids think that it's so unfair that parents get to sleep together but they have to sleep by themselves."  That got me thinking--I only get EV as a baby for a little bit of time, especially since she already acts like a teenager sometimes.  I also really enjoy waking up and seeing EV snuggled between Jimmy and myself.  Plus, I don't have the energy to convince her to go to her room at 3 o'clock in the morning.

So, I may be undoing all those efforts to get her to be an independent sleeper, but we've decided to leave her alone when she comes into our bed.  Well, we'll see how things go after the renovation and our master is moved to the first floor.