Learning to Sleep (Finally)

I spent the whole next day reading the book and learned more about the method. Not only was I supposed to put him in bed awake, but I wasn't to stand over him, only sit next to him. Also, no snacks right before bed, or milk. These were two things we always gave him. We were to be encouraging and supportive while X went through this transition and only one of us should be with him. Keep talking to a minimum...just shushing. If he stands up in the crib, only put him back down once or it might turn into a game. Instead, continue to shush and gently pat the bed telling him to lay down. If he gets up in the middle of the night, check on him but start the process over.

That day for nap, I held Xavier while he fell asleep. Even at night, I held him. I just wasn't ready to try anything new. But when he woke up in the middle of the night and wouldn't go back to sleep, I put him back in his bed awake.

He flipped.

But I held on.

I sat next to his bed while he sobbed and called out for me. Joey came in briefly to reassure both of us. I wanted to yell at Xavier and tell him to just go to sleep but I also tried to see this through his eyes. To him, it wasn't fair because I had never taught him how to fall asleep on his own. I was losing hope as we went on to hour 2 of this. Then, I started singing to myself a song we sang in RivKids: My God is so big and so strong and so mighty there's nothing my God cannot do. I sang this over and over again and in my heart I made up my mind about something. I had put so much faith in Ferber's method which hadn't worked. I was not going to put my faith in this method, either....but I was going to put my faith in God. He would see us through this whole learning process.

I found myself humming the song and realized Xavier was, too. He had finally calmed down. After 2 hours, Xavier finally fell asleep on his own, in his crib.

"I stand up in faith,
Cause I fear no longer,
And I pray and wait for God to provide.
I lean all of my weight on him who is able,
And I set aside every effort of mine."
lyrics from "A Son of God"