And the verdict is in

Well, here's the follow-up. After he fell asleep, I tiptoed around the house, terrified that he might wake up and that I would be faced with the heartbreaking decision of giving up and soothing him back to sleep, or endure more of the crying torture. We usually try to get him used to sleeping with a lot of noise around, so that he doesn't need complete silence to sleep. But that battle would be for another day. I had had enough for one night! What I forgot to mention yesterday is that it was a triple strike in terms of changes. We were trying to establish a sleeping routine by deciding that it was time for bed, trying to teach him to fall asleep alone, and making him sleep in his crib in his own room instead of in his cradle that had always been beside my bed. They say that the first day of school (or of day care) is harder on the parents than on the child. We say the same goes for the first night in a different room than my baby. We had separation anxiety and barely slept. On the other hand, Gabriel slept really well, 10 hours, waking up only once to feed and going back to sleep by himself!!! What an accomplishment!

Today, he slept a lot more during the day. Putting him down for his naps was still a battle though and resulted in two shorter crying episodes. I endured them by keeping busy around the house, which is starting to be cleaner than it's ever been! If the need to sleep at night is obvious, the constantly recurring need to sleep during the day is harder to identify. But if you think about it, I wouldn't let my kid eat Smarties for diner, even if that's what he wanted, and would rather give him what I think he needs, like vegetables. So it now makes sense to me that I need to distinguish between what Gabriel thinks he wants in terms of sleep (i.e. sleeping is for wimps) and what I think he needs when I notice him yawning and rubbing his eyes.

Anyway, I kept the best news for last. Tonight, Gabriel was all smiles. I put him in his bed around 8:00 PM, and let him play with his mobile for a while since he was so awake, waiting for the crying to start. Once the mobile stopped, I heard a little complaint, and then nothing. I didn't dare to wish what anyone would dream of, that he might have fallen asleep. But of course, I had to know. I walked up to his bed, ever so slowly, to look at his angel face. He was sound asleep. I couldn't and still can't believe it. He fell asleep! No crying, no nothing, he fell asleep! I'm still in shock, and about to go celebrate with Alejo. One little battle won, one huge leap for our family!
Bonne Nuit,

Lys xx