Bedtime shmed time!

Just a little update on how the bedtime routine is going:

Not great.
Not terrible!

Rick is really good at rocking Cruz to sleep and transferring him to his crib. Cruz will then sleep for about an hour, then wake up again. Then Rick or I will cuddle with him until he's sleepy again.

If I try laying him down in his crib while he's sleeping, I always wake him up. Then he SCREAMS. That's when I give him the 10 minute rule. And normally he goes back to sleep.

He has been sleeping for longer periods at a time without waking up while in his crib (that's the "not terrible" part). The longest I think was 4 or 5 hours as opposed to 2-3 hours. Then when he wakes up, we just put him in bed with us for the rest of the night. I do not have the energy to fight with him in the middle of the night. I'm hoping that eventually he'll start sleeping through the night in the crib and then I won't have to fetch him at all!

Something we're doing just isn't working though. Maybe he's scared to be alone? I leave a lamp on in the room for him. He has stuffed toys to cuddle with.

I really don't like listening to him cry himself to sleep though. I feel like I'm being cold and heartless to an innocent little baby who just wants his mommy to cuddle with him. However, I know I have the best intentions for him. He doesn't know that though. He's used to crying and having his mommy pick him up. He doesn't get that mommy is trying to teach him valuable life lessons!

I do, however, know that we're making progress, and that keeps me motivated. It's just so different having him in his own bed in his own room. I'm so used to having him in the same room and same bed as me. That made bedtime so easy. We'd lay in bed and read a story, then I'd nurse him to sleep and leave the room. When he'd wake up, I'd just lay beside him and nurse him til he went back to sleep again. Now I'm figuring out how to go about comforting him without always nursing him, or transferring him from nursing with me to his bed without him waking up and screaming. That is definitely my biggest challenge. Our routine is up in chaos.