To Cry or Not to Cry?

So, my older sister Amy, had a baby just 6 days after Vincent was born. She is around 10 1/2 months old now and is a horrible sleeper. She takes short cat naps during the day and at night, well, she's up about every hour and a half. She co-sleeps with them and needless to say, no one is getting any sleep. She just called me nearly in tears because she was attempting to let Lucy "cry it out" for her afternoon nap. I, for one, am an advocate for "crying it out". It may not work for everyone but it has worked wonders for me and Vincent. I've been trying to convince my sister for some time to at least try it, but she doesn't have the heart for it.

While I'm on the topic of crying it out, I have received quite a bit of flack from other mothers in regards to letting my son cry himself to sleep through other online chat groups I am involved with. Well, you know what? What works for one family may not work for another. No one has any right to judge any other mother for what she thinks is the best for her children and her family. We have to make that personal decision, and it's no one else's place to criticize.

Vincent is an incredibly high needs child and always has been. I needed that break. I needed that nap time and I needed a decent rest sleep at night. He still doesn't sleep through the night completely, but we are getting closer. He only wakes up once, at the most twice at night to nurse. Before I implemented the cry it method, my days were awful! Vincent would wake up at 4:00am and be extremely fussy...then he would take only 30 minutes and wake up fussy, miserable and tired. I then became angry, resentful, overwhelmed and fed up! During his awake hours I couldn't enjoy him because we were both just pissed off. Once I began letting him cry himself to sleep instead of nurse to sleep, everything turned around 100%. Vincent now takes 1 1/2 hour naps twice daily and wakes up refreshed and happy.

So if you are thinking about trying this method, be prepared. It will be incredibly difficult at first. When you are sitting there listening to them cry, it will break your heart into a million pieces. You will feel like the scum of the earth and like the most horrible mother in the world. But you are not. You may also receive criticism and judgement from other people. Who cares? I didn't. Only you know what is best and believe in it.