Time for cry-it-out

After the episode Tuesday when the Reluctant Napper was napping short and cranky in-between, I decided it was time for some serious "cry-it-out" action. He would nap for 30-45 minutes, then be awake for 45 minutes, then be ready for another nap, which means that his first nap just wasn't long enough. I know that I've mentioned that I've been trying to let him cry it out, but in reality, I would let him cry for a few minutes, then go in and give him the pacifier, roll him over, or just give up and get him up. But that all changed on Wednesday.

I earnestly determined that I would not attempt to ameliorate Matthew's wake ups with pacifiers, rolling over, rocking or anything else. He was going to nap for at least an hour without any assistance. Thus, when Matthew woke up from his morning nap Wednesday after 40 minutes, I turned down the monitor, put on some classical music and held back my tears while he cried and cried and cried and cried. After 10 minutes, still crying. And it wasn't a little sob here and there, it was almost constant wailing. I turned the classical up and frantically cleaned the kitchen to divert my mind and ears from the onslaught of wailing from my little determined one. After 15 minutes more, there was silence. He was back to sleep and remained so for almost an hour. The afternoon nap was basically the same.

On Thursday, after 45 minutes of a morning nap, he cried for maybe 10 minutes, then fell asleep for another hour. The afternoon nap was similar.

On Friday, after a 1.5 hour morning nap, he woke up and was good to go. Then in the afternoon, he woke 45 minutes into his nap, cried for 2 minutes and continued to sleep for another 1.5 hours.

Wow. While the wailing was heart-wrenching, he is now napping so well and hardly crying at all. I am so excited and hope this good trend continues. As with anything baby-related, however, things can change overnight when they're growing and developing so rapidly. Regardless, these days I'm almost in tears because I'm so relieved that he is napping so well.