Finn had his nine month check up last week. He is 20lbs 8oz (51st percentile) and 31 inches long (95th percentile). He is going to be tall like daddy. He is on track for everything as far as motor skills and milestones go. We talked to Dr. Eisenhut about how Finn has been tough the last month at night. Out of nowhere, he started giving us problems. He would wake up in the middle of the night and scream his heart out. He wanted us to come and get him and hold him the rest of the night. In the past, if he woke up, we could just go in his room and give him his pacifier and a few pats on the butt. That was all it took and he was immediately back to sleep. I guess we have been spoiled. He has been hard to get back to sleep once he wakes up at night. We were exhausted. Dr. Eisenhut said something triggered it the first time with him - maybe his gums were sore from teething or something (he does have 3 teeth that are about to break through up top). That first night, we assumed something had to be really wrong with him. It was so unlike him to act like that. So I admit, we coddled him a little. And so started this bad routine that lasted nearly a month. According to Dr. Eisenhut, Finn was training us. He had us coming into his room every night several times, rocking him to sleep, cuddling him and even putting him in bed with us (a couple times). So now we have to break him of this. Dr. Eisenhut said the only way he will know how to put himself back to sleep when he wakes up is to learn from us putting him to bed awake initially. He said it should only take about a week and a half or so and he will be used to it.
Let me tell you this is terrible!! We put him in his bed and he immediately got up on his knees in his bed, holding onto his crib and screamed bloody murder through the crib bars for an hour. We went in there every 15 minutes and gave him his pacifier and laid him down and told him we loved him; but we were instructed not to pick him up. It made me physically sick listening to him scream like that. Eventually he fell asleep on his knees smashed into his crib.
This is going to be a long week and a half...
But we are sticking to the plan. I can't have him controlling us. If he wins with this, where will it end??
