Cry it out Baby!

I had two main points of pride in my parenting of Simon. He was a champion sleeper and he never, ever got sick. By 5 1/2 weeks old, he was sleeping through the night with no "training," and when he was older, I was a sleep nazi, protecting his schedule at all costs. As a result, he sleeps like a teenager and still takes blessed naps. As far as his health, that boy could probably fly in a plane next to someone with TB and deplane unscathed (not that I'd like to test that theory). He's thrown up one time and had a cough like twice.

And then there's sweet Talya Katherine. She has had a runny nose off and on for months, and though she teased us with a few all-night sleeps from 6 weeks old, I've spent much of the last 6 months up at least once nursing and watching Parental Control on MTV (maybe tv's worst show ever, but I'll take it over infomercials).

A few weeks ago, after one of our travel whirlwinds, she returned home as exhausted as we were and started sleeping all night. Hallelujah. But then we hit the road again, and when she woke up in strange places, there was no amount of "self-soothing" going on. So, I formed an addiction to playing games on my iPod as I spent more nights feeding the girl. I knew she wasn't hungry, but when you're sleeping in someone else's house, you do what you need to do for peace and quiet.

But I came home exhausted and determined. I am done. No more iPod games, no more MTV, just me trying to sleep with the baby monitor wailing by my head. I know there's a controversy about sleep training, but for pete's sake, I think a sensitive parent can tell when Baby needs food and comfort and when Baby needs bed. I insist on keeping the monitor on (Ben loves that) so I can share in her misery.

And, do you know what? Here's how it went:
T-Bear, you're going to bed and I will get you at 6 in the morning. Not before then. Night Night.

Night 1: Disaster.
Night 2: Only one wake up - but it lasted an hour and half.
Night 3: Slept til 5 and then cried til I got her at 6 - improvement?
Night 4: Woke up 3 times, and got her self back to sleep all 3 times within minutes. Woke up at 6:08 am.

I'm happy as can be, and will never travel again. (yeah, right)