Monday, May 29, 2006

My Punishment

As a first time Mom, I've really created some terrible sleep habbits for Maddie - that I am now (11 mos in the making) trying to break. She has started fighting bedtime, so Rob suggested that we put her in her crib and let her cry herself to sleep. I know that half of the moms out there are saying, "duh.." While the other half are saying, "Oh! How could you?" Well - either way, we're trying it. Last night and tonight I sat in the office grinding my teeth - trying my VERY best to not go in and comfort her. Last night it took fifteen minutes, and tonight it took eight, but both nights she fell asleep on her own. But boy do I feel AWFUL when I walk in and find her sleeping like this. Last night her cheeks were still pressed in between the bars. Am I going to be sent to "Neglegent Mother's Limbo?"



8 comments:

kathryn said...

maddie's going to have permanent indentations down both sides of her face! good luck explaining that to her when she's 16. just kidding guys, i should jump on the wagon... it's 10 pm and maggie's sitting on the floor next to me while i type this... who's the "bad mom" now? hmmm?

AmyJane said...

I've been reading your blog for awhile and had to comment on this one. Even though I'm a first time mom, I was super serious about good sleep habits from the very beginning-- I learned a lot from a book called "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, " by Marc Wiesbluth. It's useful and practical from birth though the teen years. I totally reccomend it. Also, I probably lucked out with an easy sleeper so I can't take much credit for my super sleeper of a baby.

Jenny said...

My daughter used to cry at bedtimes when she was younger so I would just leave the house and have my husband listen because it made me feel bad. So bedtime was the time I'd go run errands or read at Borders or whatever.
And bad moms are the ones who lay their kids down to bed with bottles of diet coke. I think you're probably ok for now!

VTW-I was Katie's roomate in college, that's how I got to your blog. Your daughter is adorable.

Elder Richey said...

How cool to see the wonderful world of blogging uniting all my friends! Oh, and Melissa, I really like the book Amyjane mentioned and I also suggest investing in some earplugs. I hated to listen to Marcus cry too.

Kim Dubois said...

Hey, don't you guys live in Utah? How come your baby still gets to wear pajamas to bed when my baby sweats his guts out in a onesie?

Anonymous said...

I let my oldest daughter cry herself to sleep. the child would stay up the entire night if you didn't put her to bed. One night I was exhausted and I couldn't take another night of my daughter staying up past ten. I put her to bed and let her cry for about 20 minutes. When I went into her room after listening to her scream at the top of her lungs I noticed her knee stuck between the slats. Oh yeah!! I felt bad. :) I cried my own self to sleep.

Anonymous said...

Well I know where your guilt comes from. It's your way too soft mom that could never listen to any of you kids cry.....Still can't and the youngest is 18 for cryin out loud..no pun intended. While the pictures ARE heart wrethching....she is on the other hand ASLEEP. I had an Aunt that would wake up her daughter if she didn't look comfortable and reposition her. GO FIGURE!! I've seen Maddie since the photo's and she seems to have sustained no permanant scars..mental or physical so I say, cut yourself some slack and let her tough it out....also check for stuck legs from time to time.

Anonymous said...

p.s. If that doesn't work...try the diet coke in the bottle thing. That sounds like a winner.