Whoa

Sejin did it. After 30 minutes of trying, Grace went for an afternoon nap. Yeah Papa Jo! Then, suddenly, a door slammed in the wind only 30 minutes later and she woke up! Doh!

I know in a recent post I said I was going to follow my instinct and not books, but books are still good and can give you good ideas. I just finished reading the Baby Whisperer and I wish that I had read that book first. It was last on my list because it sounded so cheesy. To my surprise, it is full of good ideas and is pro-routine, yet not minute-by-minute a la Gina Ford. I like the idea of Gina Ford's book, but after some thought, I realized it really isn't realistic, especially for breast feeders. I certainly don't have 6-8 ounces left in me at 6:00 pm! And, it costs over $100 to join Gina Fords online community! I couldn't believe it. But the Baby Whisperer forums are free.

The Baby Whisperer recommends the EASY routine, which is Eat, Activity, Sleep, You time. This is similar to what is recommended in Babywise, which I intended to try, but we fell into the habit of nursing to sleep. It will be hard to break this association, but I'm confident that we can do it. We have to do it, especially if I return to work! This is a great perk to the EASY routine -- you can leave your baby with someone and give them a routine to follow, one that baby is comfortable with.

But EASY is not easy and we will have to work on it. Yesterday didn't go so well, but I think we have made some small progress today with Sejin's success in putting Grace for a nap. Also, when Grace woke up tonight 45 minutes after I put her down, I was able to get her settled without feeding her. About 20 minutes in, she was up to a scream cry in my arms (where's my boob?!?), and I was questioning my competency as a mother. Suddenly I put her down again and she turned her head and closed her eyes. It's as if she said, Okay, I give up. Wimpering 20 minutes later, so I did the Shh/pat as outlined in BW and surprisingly she went back to sleep. I think the key to this method is showing baby that you're not going to waver -- that they're going to be put back in their crib to go to sleep. I like it because it's gentler than CIO; you're with your baby while they're having the emotion. You talk them through it, pat them, and stay with them until they fall asleep or are calm.

I'm really excited about all this because I was kind of worried about our trip to Canada in August. I have spent up to 3 or 4 hours some nights trying to get Grace to sleep and I was dreading spending most of my time in Canada doing the same. But if the BW techniques work, things will be different and I can start getting excited about the trip.

Here's hoping!