Sunday, June 01, 2008

I *heart* Dr. Sears

"Babies will wean and someday they will sleep through the night. This high maintenance stage of nighttime parenting will pass. The time in your arms, at your breast, and in your bed is a relatively short while in the life of a baby, yet the memories of love and availability last forever. "

This is why we 1) cosleep and 2) REFUSE REFUSE REFUSE to sleep train our daughter to go to sleep on her own.

I do not want to send the message to her that we are only available to her during the day. I want her to learn that (to use Dr. Sears' phrasing) sleep is a pleasant state to enter into and a safe state to remain in. I do not believe that leaving her to cry alone until she falls asleep will accomplish those goals.

I'm not criticizing any other parent for choosing to use the cry-it-out method to get their children to sleep. I believe that, generally speaking, parents do what they feel is best for their families based on their own beliefs and principles when it comes to raising children. So why do I not get the same courtesy from other parents? If I'm venting about having trouble with sleeping, just offer some sympathy and encouraging words: "This too shall pass."

1 comment:

MustangChick74 said...

I love you Joana... It will pass..... And I'm not going to rub it in that my not-quite-9-month-old has been sleeping through the night for several months... (no crying, either! Really!)

So yes, eventually the reason you will be having sleepless nights won't be because of your daughter but because of your hormones which for some reason decide that you need to wake up for NO REASON nearly every morning at 4am.... But it could be beacause I'm so much older than you!