Secret to Sleep

Yes, this is a blog about Finwe. Yet, to write about a baby is to write about his eating, growing, and sleeping. That's why I'm going to devote a little time to how I'm getting Finwe to sleep so well and how I recognized the signs that I was creating a problem with the sleeping. Part of it is simply the fact that Finwe is my third; I've got the experience of two other babies behind me. The major part is having read many books regarding sleep and infants. Only one of these books held my attention.

See, Inwe was made to cry it out. You can read a bit about that here. I was so traumatized by my experience with Inwe that I had to find another way to teach Larien how to sleep through the night. (Honestly, Inwe wasn't traumatized by crying it out, but she is the one constantly coming into our bed at night, not Larien. Larien doesn't suck her thumb, but Inwe does. Coincidence, maybe.) After searching for good sleep books I found The No Cry Sleep Solution, By Elizabeth Pantley. I faithfully executed the plan in that book, which was dictated by Larien's and my sleep habits. I kept a log to figure out when she was waking and what I was doing when she woke. The No Cry Sleep Solution worked for me. I had to work at it, but to me it was worth it.

With Finwe I'm following the same plan. And, so far it is working. He's not sleeping next to me as I get lazy when my babies sleep next to me and soothe them to sleep with nursing. When he wakes after just two to three hours of sleep I know not to nurse him because he isn't hungry; he just doesn't do well getting himself to sleep. I still swaddle him for sleeping. I haven't quite figured out how to wean him from needing his arms immobile for sleeping. But I will.