Hailey vs. CIO

Oh man! Our little Miss Hailey has won this round of CIO!

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Up until a few days ago, Hailey has done a great job going to bed. Yes, I know, we probably put her down when she is completely asleep rather then letting her fall asleep in bed by herself. I know we do. Even though I tell myself we don't, we totally do. Most of that is because she gets so worked up sometimes. We have learned that sometimes its not worth letting her cry.

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We have also learned the hard way what happens if we wait to long to get her down. We have tried to be very mindful of her sleepy-time cues and get her to nap/bed as soon as possible. It was one very long Monday I experienced a few weeks ago. I did some crying, Jake and I did some fighting, we both did some reading, and I think we have that all figured out. That has been maybe one of the most important things I've learned, keeping my sanity wise, after becoming a parent.

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Now, as of yesterday, she has started this new phase of screaming after we put her down to bed at night. We try to let her cry it out, going in and checking on her every 5 min and such. I even sing to her...I need to look up some new songs to sing tomorrow too. Trying to let her calm herself. But yesterday and tonight that hasn't worked. Not one bit. Letting her cry it out has only made it worse. Hailey has always gotten really worked up easily and is hard to calm down.

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Colic you ask?? Nope. Its not colic unless they have been crying for more than 3 HOURS and for a few days in a row at the same time of day. Our doctor talked to us about colic at the girl's 6 week appointment. Now that reminds me...the girls have their 4 month (yes I said month) appointment in two weeks! I have decided there is no way I would survive colic! 3 hours of a screaming baby??? And that could last for up to 12 months. I would totally go crazy by the end of the first year. But thankfully she doesn't cry for hours. And I don't think she would even if we left her in their crib.

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Part of what makes this so difficult is that there is another baby we have to consider. Its not like we can just put Hailey in her crib and let her cry (scream rather) it out. Hannah shares a room let along their crib with her sister Hailey right now. It hasn't really seemed to bother Hannah too much when Hailey cries but I'm sure that isn't going to last long.

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One thing Jake and I talked about is sticking to the CIO method, but keep Hannah in the living room with us until Hailey is asleep. Thankfully (and yes, I am knocking on wood right now) Hannah is a good sleeper and an overall easy going baby. We talked about trying that tomorrow night but with it being a Sunday we might wait until next Friday. If Hailey isn't sleeping neither is the rest of the house.

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So, for now, the score stands as Hailey=1 CIO=0. Hope the score evens out and her parents keep their sanity soon. The screaming, rocking, swinging, crying, drying, screaming, driving can not continue any longer.