Okay, so I exaggerate. A little.
On Sunday night, July 4th, we bit the bullet (again) and tried to start sleep training Maritt. Again.
We went with a modified Ferber. I let myself go in a little more frequently and didn't so rigidly stick to his times, I picked her up a few times on a few nights, and tried to calm her before it escalated to a point of no return or kept going for hours on end.
So... a few days into it now, we hope it's working and she seems to be getting the concept. She still cries for anywhere from 15 minutes to 1 hour before eventually succumbing to sleep. We still go in and reassure her. Tell her we love her, sleep is a wonderful thing, all is well in the world - that kind of thing... and then leave again hoping she'll fall asleep.
We had just reached a point where we could no longer sustain the process and steps it took to get her to go to sleep. The rocking, shushing, bouncing, and pacing the room, move to put her in her crib and her waking up as soon as you got her about 1 inch above the mattress... only to have to start again. Over and over. Tom and I grew quite frustrated and knew we needed to try again.
I also realized that if Maritt woke up Cyanne, it would just be for a few nights (hopefully) while she learned to sleep and then everyone would be better off after she figured it out. So, while I'd initially been extremely concerned about C waking up, I knew that if she did, she'd fall back asleep and it would be okay.
So, we tried it the night we got back from LA and have been doing it ever since. As all of the books say, consistency is key.
We've been trying hard and so far, Maritt seems to slowly be getting the hang of it.
Fingers crossed it gets easier and easier and she turns into a fantastic, awesome sleeper that Cyanne is now. We hope both of them learn and continue to realize what a fantastic thing sleep is =).
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