Cry Me Another River

I could sit here and totally lie and say that Nights Three and Four were pieces of cake, but I can't.  I know those of you out there who think I am a cruel mother, abusing her child with this "cry it out" process are smugly patting yourselves on the back, saying "I told you so", but I still think the process works and I am going to continue.  So stuff it. And I mean that lovingly.

Night Three was not too bad. I started putting him down for naps during the day, fully awake, in preparation for what was to come in the evening. He hollered a bit each nap-time, but was asleep within 20 minutes.  I thought that he was getting it, so when night rolled around, Randy, Dante, and I were semi-prepared for it to go smoothly.  Not quite.  Dorian was angry!  Boy was he angry!  He was so angry that I think he developed new sounds just to express how angry he was!  But it didn't last long, fortunately.  Randy only had to go in once for the water/cold cloth/I love you ritual and then it was over. Dorian, was snoring, snuggled in between Elmo and Tigger.  Overnight, he woke up at 1 to nurse and another at 5 (par for the course) and didn't get up for the day until about 7am, all smiles and giggles and "ma ma ma ma ma ma" when he saw me. 

Then.....last night....Night Four.... it all went to caca.

You know when you're sick and have to take antibiotics and the doctor always says, "It's going to get worse before it gets better"?  Well, that was last night. Times ten.  Again, during the day I put Dorian down for naps fully awake.  He would schmickle (i.e. fuss) for about ten minutes and then fall asleep.  All good!  So since it was the fourth night and he had been napping this way as well, I thought....well, we all thought, it was going to be smooth sailing when it came to bedtime.

We were wrong.

It was like we were back on Night One. No, let's say it was akin to negative Night One.  Yet, it wasn't the going to sleep part that was horrible, rather it was the staying asleep that we had a rough time with.  After his usual 20 minutes of fussing, Dorian was out cold.  Randy and I had a pleasant evening watching MasterChef, Dante wasn't disturbed by hollering, and by 10 pm, I was headed to bed (lol, I know, I'm a wild woman).  And then it began.  At 11:40, Dorian awoke. So I nursed him, thinking that he was just up early for his nightly first feeding.  Back in his crib by 12:15 am, I headed back to bed.  No sooner had I fallen asleep, he was up again.  I sent Randy in to take care of him since I wasn't going to nurse again, and since he is extremely attached to me, I try to be invisible during the process so he doesn't get more upset.  He fussed this time for about 10 minutes and we thought we were done for the night.  Nope. 2 am, 2:55 am, 3:30 am, and 4:30 am  he was up.  And all those times Randy laid him down, kissed him and went through the ritual.  I nursed him for the 4:30 waking and was back in bed by 5.  He's still sleeping now, but as I write this I can hear him stirring on the monitor.

Let's see what tonight brings. In the meantime, I'm going to my local Barnes and Noble and picking up this book, ASAP: