Sadly, baby is not the most advanced baby in her caterpillars class. Sure, she's a champ at sitting up for her age, but there's another baby born on the same day as her that is not only rolling over, she is holding her own bottle and feeding herself as well as sleeping 12 hours a night (7pm to 7am). Now, if my baby slept like that, I think I'd be the happiest woman on earth. That mother said that she "Ferberized" her baby at around 4 months old. She spent a week breaking her baby of swaddling and then used the Ferber method of sleep training. Baby also treats the bottle like poison, so I don't think I'll ever see her hold her own bottle and feeding herself.
First of all, we've only just perfected the art of putting a baby to sleep at night based on everything they tell you for newborns. Swaddle them up, nurse them and rock them...and then off they are to lala land. We start bath time at around 8 pm, then read books, then swaddle up and nurse...by 9:30, she's pretty much out for the night. Apparently, this is a bad thing to keep doing at her age. Apparently, I should be teaching her how to get to sleep on her own. Why on earth would I want to do that right now if things are working? As it is, there is ZERO crying at bedtime. Sleep training involves lots of crying. I don't know what the right thing to do here is. Should I follow the 'if it ain't broke' philosophy or should I suddenly undo all the routine that we've established thus far? Baby books should tell you right off the bat that you shouldn't get too comfy with your night time routine because by months 4-6, you need to start teaching the baby to get to sleep on their own.
I fear that I'm becoming the kind of mother I look down upon. Namby pamby spineless mothers who let their kids do whatever they want and spoil them silly. I just can't bear to hear baby cry and some part of me thinks that letting a baby cry teaches her to cry more. It's totally an unfounded and ridiculous idea, but I've barely let baby cry ever and thus far, she's not a crybaby. I'm sure when she gets older and cries for different reasons, I'll have to bring down the hammer, but I just don't have it in me to even try sleep training. I think I'll just get frustrated and then angry if bedtime becomes a big battle every night.
Looking ahead, I wonder how I'm going to handle any kind of friction. Theoretically, I envisioned myself as no nonsense as a piano teacher with a ruler, but with baby in my arms, I just want to protect her from the world and anything that could upset her. Hopefully, I will learn to balance my emotions and the need for discipline. I always thought husband would be the pushover dad and I'd be mean mommy, but I don't want to be mean mommy. I think husband will have to be the disciplinarian. He just doesn't know it yet!
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