February 14, 2011
February 8, 2011
Sleeping Through the Night
Today at work I was talking with a co-worker about how her grandson's pediatrician told her daughter-in-law that at 4 months he should be sleeping through the night and she should not feed him if he wakes up. Her daughter-in-law was so upset by it. She has been trying for two weeks to put him back to sleep without feeding him, which is a stress to her and the baby. Michelle told her to just go with her gut feeling and do what she felt is right.
I told Michelle I don't understand how people think little babies waking up in the middle of the night is a bad thing. I also told her about an article I had read that made me feel so much better about my kids not sleeping through the night until after they were a year old.
I do not believe in cry it out with a child under the age of one. They are crying for a reason. They are not crying to make it so their mom doesn't get sleep. They are not crying out of spite. They are not crying to make the mom mad. They actually need something. Whether it is just the warmth of their mommy to know they are safe or they are hungry, they do have teeny tiny little tummies. They need to know when they cry someone will be there for them. It is about trust. If you do not respond they eventually give up from exhaustion, and pretty soon quit crying when they need something because they know they will not be answered.
I find it very sad when Pediatricians and Mommies try to rush their babies to sleep through the night. It is usually only a year of being woke up in the middle of the night to attend to your child. Yes there are times Xavier wakes up in the middle of the night crying and I look at the clock and groan, but I always go in to comfort him, because that is my job as a mom. It is my responsiblility to be there for my children when they need me. And if that happens to be at 2:00 in the morning then so be it. They grow up so quickly and many of us take it for granted. Living in the moment and not recognizing that these sleepless nights are just a blip in our child's life and before we know it we are wishing we could have our little babies and sleepless nights back because they grew up too fast.
I never believed parents before I had my own children who would say "Cherish every moment because they grow up way too fast". I now know what they were talking about.
I told Michelle I don't understand how people think little babies waking up in the middle of the night is a bad thing. I also told her about an article I had read that made me feel so much better about my kids not sleeping through the night until after they were a year old.
I do not believe in cry it out with a child under the age of one. They are crying for a reason. They are not crying to make it so their mom doesn't get sleep. They are not crying out of spite. They are not crying to make the mom mad. They actually need something. Whether it is just the warmth of their mommy to know they are safe or they are hungry, they do have teeny tiny little tummies. They need to know when they cry someone will be there for them. It is about trust. If you do not respond they eventually give up from exhaustion, and pretty soon quit crying when they need something because they know they will not be answered.
I find it very sad when Pediatricians and Mommies try to rush their babies to sleep through the night. It is usually only a year of being woke up in the middle of the night to attend to your child. Yes there are times Xavier wakes up in the middle of the night crying and I look at the clock and groan, but I always go in to comfort him, because that is my job as a mom. It is my responsiblility to be there for my children when they need me. And if that happens to be at 2:00 in the morning then so be it. They grow up so quickly and many of us take it for granted. Living in the moment and not recognizing that these sleepless nights are just a blip in our child's life and before we know it we are wishing we could have our little babies and sleepless nights back because they grew up too fast.
I never believed parents before I had my own children who would say "Cherish every moment because they grow up way too fast". I now know what they were talking about.
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