The Boy Who Cried Sleep

I guess I'm not the only cry baby in this family anymore. It could be worse though, I will admit that. He could have colic. He could be fussy....I mean, fussier. But it turns out, W is one of those babies that has to cry in order to sleep. We thought something was wrong and we weren't able to figure it out. We did the five S's. We even took him on a drive at night. But every time we put him down to sleep, he'd cry. Then P did the smart thing and opened up one of our baby books. He read that some babies need to cry before they sleep. Really?! Apparently, sometimes a baby will cry for a few minutes and then pass out. Sounds like drunken Friday night or something. The best news is...the crying time should get shorter and shorter. We're supposed to let him cry and teach him to self-soothe. Genius! I didn't really believe this was what was going on at first. It's a little too good to be true. Babies cry and they don't just stop by themselves. Do they? You always here that you should just let the baby cry. Even our personal pediatrician, C, said to let him cry it out. It sounds so cruel! But to know that it's just part of a routine babies have....man! That makes me feel a whole lot better! P said just give it time. So, we started timing his crying. And sure enough, after a few minutes....silence. He'd wake up occasionally and cry again, but not for long.

What a relief! Granted those few minutes feel like forever. And forget about letting him cry himself to sleep in public. I'm sure we'd get the stink eye from folks for ignoring our crying newborn. So, for now, we'll just have to wait until W can lull himself to sleep without causing such a spectacle. Wonder how long that will be....