Elizabeth vs. The Crib

The first night home I was a nervous wreck because I knew that we could no longer send Elizabeth to the nursery to get some good night sleep. With breastfeeding not well established, Eric and I were unsure what her cries were and so the first night was very difficult. We were able to rock Elizabeth to sleep but once we placed her in the crib she woke up crying. So we did what we knew we weren't suppose to do. I slept on the couch with her in my arms all night.

The next night it was the same we tried to put Elizabeth in the crib and she would wake up screaming, my friends suggested swaddling so we swaddled her even more tightly but she would just roll over and wake herself up. I read the "What to Expect the First Year" book which gave tips but none of them worked for us.

Then, I resorted to Facebook. Many people had different opinions, one friend messaged me because she disagreed with what one person said, one friend e-mailed me and told me of her relative going through the same issue. I had a lot of great advice but one that I disagreed with was letting her cry it out.

Although I realize that many of us as parents will have different methods on how to raise our child/ren, I am a firm believer that infants are a lot smarter than what we give them credit for. I do believe that they can be psychologically harmed at this age given the infant's personality. Yes, I believe some infants would not be harmed if there were to cry it out because they might have resilience but I also believe some infants would be harmed and eventually stop crying because "nobody cares about me."

I realize through the way that my parents raised me I want to be different, to be more emotionally available for my daughter instead of ignoring her feelings. I can remember vividly some of the things my parents did that made feel terrible and I do believe this is why we aren't very close. I know my mother and I will have battles to fight (as we already have) as I raise my daughter very differently than from the way she raised me.

As I venture back to the crib story, a friend mentioned a Fischer Price Rock and Sleeper and I was about to order it until Eric suggested we try the bouncer first. In the meantime, Elizabeth began sleeping in the bed with us after we attempted to put her in the crib three times. I know this goes against all books and all advices but this allowed Eric and I to sleep in a bed! It wasn't the greatest sleep because I woke up often to make sure she was okay but it was in a bed!

Eventually we tried another friend's method of wrapping Eric's shirt around her when we put her in the crib. The first time we tried it, it worked for 10 minutes. Later that night, she slept in the crib and for then on, six out of seven nights she would sleep in the crib! I have a feeling that Eric is not going to see that shirt on his back for a very long time!