Yep, it’s my first personal vlog and I’m talking about my first night during my third attempt at sleep training. The first time wasn’t too bad. The second time was kind of horrible because we had to deal with Alyssa getting so upset that she would vomit. Sometimes we didn’t even realize that she vomited and fell asleep in it.
Of course, after it got quiet, we checked on her and realized what happened. We had to wake her, clean her up, and then put her back to bed…with a renewed bout of crying. I didn’t even know that other parents were dealing with the same problem that their kids will cry so much, or get so upset that they will throw up. Hell, I didn’t even know that sleep training was an actual phrase, let alone a method called Cry It Out (CIO). I think people used to just say, “let her cry until she falls asleep.” Heh.
Well, each time that we got Alyssa sleeping by herself in her room, it became really easy to put her to bed. At bedtime, all I had to do was bring her into her room and she would voluntarily want to lay down and would go to sleep nearly instantaneously. It was awesome!
However, there would always be a series of events that would lead her back into our bed. Most recently, it was a trip, getting sick, and new teeth. It was like a simultaneous trifecta of reasons for her to sleep with us again. I was actually OK with it until she started waking up at night, after only being asleep for an hour or two, to wait for Jeannie to get home. I knew I had to change things before it became a long term routine.
So, tonight I spent two hours putting Alyssa to bed. I initially put her in the crib with the lights out and played with her, with the hope that she wouldn’t cry and would create some kind of happy association with her room. After some time, she got tired and became quiet. She started playing by herself and exploring the area around the crib. Then, she started getting tired and became upset, almost getting to the point of vomiting a few times.
I picked her up and comforted her for a few minutes, and then returned her to her crib. Surprisingly, after three or four times of the crying/comforting routine, she wanted to be put down. She slowly fell asleep as I stroked her back and patted her behind. Eventually, I was able to escape the room without waking her.
I imagine that at some point tonight she is going to wake up crying, but at least I was able to get her to fall asleep in the room on the first night. We’ll see how long it takes to get her fully sleep trained this time; considering the fact that she’s older, more aware, and more manipulative now.
Any of you parents out there dealing with a kid who vomits when they get upset? There are a lot of opinions out there and I’m in the camp that believes it’s partly on purpose and partly because they can’t help it (depending on the scenario). What’s going on with your sleeping arrangement? Are you co-sleeping or do you have your child sleep alone? Reasons? Techniques?
Talk to me, Goose.