I consider myself very lucky when I look back over the sleep habit development of my other three children. When our first child was 4 months old, he was still not sleeping through the night. He would wake up looking for his pacifier - I thought he was hungry and nursed him back to sleep, but I was beginning to tire of sleeping in 3-hour segments.

Our pediatrician said, “Take away the pacifier, let him cry, and he’ll learn to sleep through the night.” It only took two nights for our first born to learn to sleep all night, and it wasn’t too terribly painful for the parents.:) I thought I had been doing the right thing by responding to his needs in the middle of the night - how could that be considered being lazy? But I realize now that I was, in fact, making the easy choice (for me).

Now, here I am with baby #4, and she’s still not sleeping through the night at 7 1/2 months. She has caught me a bit off-guard with her temperament - she’s not the happy, easy baby that I experienced with my other three. Because she’s been more needy, I’ve tried to be very responsive to her - even at night. Stepping back for the “big picture” view, I can see that I am only prolonging our night wakings by nursing her when she wakes at 4:30 every morning. I’ve been lazy (even though it seems like a lot of work), and that’s really not what’s best for her.

So tomorrow, I’ll let her cry . . . let’s hope she’s a quick study like her oldest brother. :)


Posted In: Every Day Life, Ideas You Can Use