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Posted by anna on February 11, 2002 at 05:39:05:In Reply to: Getting a 3-week old to bed: what can be expected? posted by Julia's mom on February 08, 2002 at 16:46:29:
Well, if this doesnt confuse you..I dont know what will! All these different opinions. No one can tell you what to do..they can only tell you what worked for them. Only you know your baby so I will tell you what we did and hopefully between all the advice given to you, you will be able to find a solution to your problem.
First, we are not into the co sleeping thing. I know that some have been lucky and been able to transition their children from their bed to the childs bed..but from most of the stories I have heard..its more of a headache. That and my sister ( who is a pediatrician) made me promise that I wouldnt sleep with my son at night.She has lost more than one patient to a well intentioned parent who accidently smothers her child. It doesnt happen often..but try telling that to the parent who lost their child. Its just not for us. It has also been her experience that it causes more trouble in the long run...regardless of how sweet it appears in the beginning. You have to figure out if attachment parenting is for you. I gave it a shot in the beginning..but that little voice in my head kept telling me that it wasnt.
That being said..the question remains..is 3 weeks to young to start sleep training. In my opinion..YES. I dont know if it was too early for my son..but as a first time mother I know I couldnt handle listening to my baby cry at such an early age. At 3 weeks a cry means a lot more than a cry does going down for a nap at 5 months.
What we did was really work hard at establishing a routine. That got us through the first 4 months fairly well. When it was time to break the pacifier habit and learn to fall asleep unassisted, it took a few nights like all the books say..and it was hard..but he is such a different kid now that he falls asleep on his own. I had him in a bassinet next to my bed for the first 3 months. I too worried about the transition. When we were ready to move him to his crib, I took the bassinet out of the frame and placed it IN his crib. That way he would get use to seeing the same thing. After a week or so of that we placed him in his crib and he fell right alseep. It was a very smooth transition.
The thing I did from the beginning that I attribute to him sleeping so well at night from the start is that unless I was getting him up for a feeding, once back in his bassinet at night I wouldnt pick him up. He never fussed that long. That really helped establish the difference between day and night. Going to sleep for a nap or at the beginning of what would become his bedtime, we did a lot of chasing pacifiers and rocking. The first three months was more about survival and helping him fall asleep without forcing him to cry all by himself. During the day it was a different story. Maybe thats why my son sleeps so well at night and not that well during the day.
Anyway...I hope all of this doesnt confuse you. Again...treat all this advice like the line at the cafeteria. Take what you agree with from each of us and throw the rest away.
Good luck!
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