The Great Sleep Debate

My little girl turned 6 months old on Monday - I honestly can't believe it's been 6 months since she was born. She is growing and learning every single day, and I am so proud to be her mommy.

my sweet girl is 6 months old

During her 6 month photo shoot above she was cracking me up. She kept touching the sticker that said 6 months on it, and eventually peeled it off of her sweater entirely. She is one smart cookie! Right now she is obsessed with paper. I think it's because of all of the art projects they do at school with her. She loves to hear it as she crinkles it up and tries to jam it in her mouth (along with pretty much everything else at this point). I keep waiting to see a tooth - I think one more month and we'll see one for sure.

art project at school

Right now Charlotte is in her crib - she typically goes to bed around 6:30-6:45 PM each night. For awhile she was sleeping until midnight, but since she's been sick (see previous post) she's been getting up between 8-9 PM. She usually just wants to snuggle with someone. While she's been sick she's been enjoying "kangarooing" with me like she did when she was a newborn. It's pretty darn cute. Last night she slept on Sam's chest for about 20 minutes before he put her back down and it was quite precious watching her nestle into the crook of his neck - reminded me of the very early days with her.

There are definitely some challenging days. She is still not sleeping through the night yet - and since she's been sick I'm in no rush to push the whole sleep training thing. I've been reading the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Dr. Weissbluth and I'm just about halfway through it, and I'm still not sure I'm buying into the whole sleep training deal. My mom didn't do it with us, and I typically find it funny when men write books like this telling women how to feel about letting their baby cry. When Charlotte cries, it doesn't bother Sam (to an extent). When she cries, it bothers me. Immensely. Oh and wait, it's supposed to! I will say that the book does have some helpful tips - it made me realize the signs of a tired and overtired baby. It also recommended an earlier bedtime for babies that don't nap so well during the day (Miss Charlotte to a T especially at daycare). We had been putting her to sleep at 8 PM at night, but upon reading the book we started an earlier bedtime and that has been helpful.

For now I'm still a fan of Dr. Sears in his philosophy of attachment parenting and going to the baby when she cries. I can certainly see how one can become so sleep deprived that they cave to the pressure of trying sleep training, however, it doesn't work for everyone! When discussing sleep training with my hairdresser - she tried the ferber method - she just laughed and said, we tried it two nights in a row - didn't work and I couldn't take it. I read some accounts like this in the Weissbluth book as well. A colleague of mine at work just told me his infant son is finally sleeping through the night at 22 months. He and his wife got up with the baby at least once a night. I am the first to admit I am not a sleep training expert. I just think every mom needs to do what is best for her and the baby, and what feels right. And for me, letting Charlotte cry for an hour (that's the longest I tried one night) just doesn't seem to fit our needs or feel right to me. Again, I recommend to do what is best for you and your family. Who knows, maybe by the time I finish the book she'll be sleeping through the night on her own. :)

Sweet dreams everyone. And to all the moms out there - I salute you! Remind yourself that you're doing a good job. :) I'm sure you don't hear it often enough.

time flies, she's growing up so fast