Enough of you have been asking sleep-related questions that Laura and I decided it was time to tackle this most central of early-parenting issues. There's no way this topic can be tackled in one post, so we envision a series. I'm not making any promises as to schedules - I know I'm not that organized, and I think Laura's probably too busy to make an "every Thursday morning" kind of committment. However, look here for our response to the issue, and we'll do our best to have a post a week in the series.
Here's what we've outlined in our heads:
1. Introductory post (check!)
2. Laying the groundwork for sleep. Ways to encourage good sleeping patterns, even before the baby is physiologically ready to do so.
3. The three main approaches to infant and toddler sleep: Cry-It-Out, Modified CIO, and No-Cry. We will not take any positions at this point, simply outline each approach and some of its variations, its pros and cons. This section will take three or more posts.
4. What WE think.
This series will take a few weeks, and its format may be adjusted as we get input from you. (Or have a brilliant idea of our own!!) Stay tuned.
The BIG problem I had was how to stop my husband and other family members undoing all my good work or tripling my stress levels by telling me that crying it out will cause him untold pyschological trauma.
Posted by: Kat | August 30, 2006 at 06:16 AM
Great idea! I need help w/my second child. I would let her cry it out, but she wakes up my 2yr old. I had planned to have them share a room- but it's not working out that way. I'm sure the challenge of sharing a room is a challenge for others too.
I just don't know what to do.
Posted by: hilary | August 30, 2006 at 07:35 AM
Please do a little focus on what to do if you've already started out screwing up. I read all kinds of stuff about what I should have done in the beginning, but was too tired/whatever to do it at the time. I think I've finally gotten back on the right path, but there's not much written on how to undo bad habits - just how not to start them.
Posted by: ktjrdn | August 30, 2006 at 08:30 AM
This sounds wonderful! I'm eagerly awaiting your first (second I guess) installment on this topic. I agree that it may be nice to include something on how to "undo" bad habits that you didn't mean to get yourself into.
Posted by: Krista | August 30, 2006 at 01:39 PM
Can you address the problem that parents of quirky kids have with any of those methods? For instance, we tried probably every combination of sleep method available from the time Christopher was six months old until he finally slept through the night on his own at age two. NOTHING worked. Kids like him are so much more intense and difficult. Any suggestions for those parents?
Posted by: candace | August 31, 2006 at 06:53 AM