44 Minutes

That’s how long my little man screamed until he finally fell asleep tonight.

I know, I know… there are those who are SO against CIO (crying-it-out) and will give me an earful (or a screenful, as the case may be) after reading this. I say bring it on! I’ve already beaten myself up enough, so there’s nothing that can hurt me now.

After months of rocking my previously awesome sleeper off to Dreamland for upwards of 30 minutes three times a day, I had to do something. We’ve tried “controlled crying.” We’ve tried keeping him up till he just can’t keep his eyes open any longer. We’ve done BabyWise, The 90-Minute Baby Sleep Cycle, and every other strategy we could think of or read about. This was truly a last resort.

You know how your parents always said, “Someday you’ll have a child, and they’ll be just like YOU! “? Well, Ryan’s parents always said that to him… and they were right! I’ve noticed that Ryder totally has my number. He’s smart, and he’s stubborn. Well, as a wise woman once said to me, “Consider this Ryder’s first week of school, and you’re the teacher.” (By the way, I WAS a teacher, but this is FAR more difficult than real school… and the wise woman is my mother whom I promptly called after said CIO session to bawl my eyes out.)

Anyway, the first battle in this war is over… no casualties, many winners. Here’s to a (hopefully) peaceful night’s sleep, and an easier bedtime tomorrow!