Controlled Crying

Back in April I blogged about controlled crying, and back then it was very apparent to everyone reading, that I was not warming to the idea of leaving Leo to cry for any time at all. On Friday night though...after I had tried everything else I could think of....I hopped on the controlled crying band waggon!

We have always followed the bath, bottle bed routine with Leo, and this is something we have done from day One. I have often tweeted all about the up's and down's we have experienced with our routine and sought out as much advice as possible.

Many people have recommended controlled crying, but I have always shied away from it, not wanting my beautiful boy to shed un-necessary tears and vowed to find another way. Once you have tried everything though...Somehow the idea of controlled crying seems much more attractive.

It is no secret that we have had to improvise our bedtime routine with Leo, more times than you can shake a stick at it, but there are many reasons that can suddenly make a successful routine flounder. As we have experienced...

I have tried feeding him his dinner earlier and then later in the hope he will drink more of his bedtime bottle. I have attempted spraying my perfume on his blankie when he has become so clingy that only Mummy will do, and I have even used magical baby bath. Of course sometimes you get the right combination and the sleep problem will disappear....At least for a little while anyway.

Sometimes no matter what you do, you cannot see the way back to that once blissful routine that you followed so religiously.

Since our return from France last week, Leo has been drawing out bedtime and setting new records in terms of fighting off sleep. Needless to say while we were away Leo's routine was turned on it's head and we created some bad habits that we are now paying for.

On Friday night I followed our usual routine to the smallest detail. He had his dinner, bath and milk. Despite all of this he would not settle and in the end I found myself Googling controlled crying and decided right there and then that I must now give it a try, after everything else had failed. 

I started off at 5 minute intervals before running back in and scooping him up. I waited before extending the duration before going in and soothing him. After the first hour and the 5 minutes not getting us anywhere, I did start to wait longer before going back in. The longest time gap I left was 15 minutes, and that felt like a eternity. 

I did not talk to him when I entered his room, but I did pat his back reassuringly and soothed him with a 'Shh'. When I went into Leo, I found him sat up in his bed screaming, his freshly washed hair a sweaty mess. 

He seemed to take forever to calm down even when I was holding him in my arms. I do realise that this was shear temper on his part but it does not make you feel any better about it. Each time he screamed I found myself wanting to snuggle him close and whisper sweet nothings into his hear. 

I wanted to tell him I was sorry and back down.

The more I felt like this, I suddenly realised what a contradiction this would be for my little Leo. As soon as I felt like this I thought how he had cried so many tears, that for me to just back down now and un-do all of our hard work was just completely cruel and un-fair.

 It took Leo a record breaking hour and a half before he succumbed to sleep....but he did in the end.

An hour and a half is a long time, and it is fair to say that I hated waiting 5 minutes...10 minutes and 15 minutes to go back in with a attempt to settle my beautiful boy.

Leo is at an age where he knows how to push the boundaries. For instance just last night when bedtime came around he point blank refused his bottle in his room. I persisted and so did Leo, upon walking out of his bedroom the tears stopped. Entering my bedroom and sitting on the bed, he suddenly drank his bottle. Leo had got his own way. As soon as he drank his milk I took him straight back into his room to go to bed.

Controlled Crying has not been a easy route for me to take, but after our first 3 nights of practising it I do feel more confident about what I am doing. It has certainly worked and once Leo has gone to bed, he is in bed. He will protest and you can certainly hear him crying but it does not take as long as our first attempt did on Friday. He may cry for about 20 minutes now, sometimes less...but he goes to sleep.

When I am sure Leo is sleeping like a baby, I sneak back into him and peek at my sleeping beauty, he always sleeps where he drops after giving up his fight to stay awake, and he's tucked up with his favourite blanket. You would not know that he had been screaming so relentlessly and just looks completely peaceful.

Leo is currently going through a very clingy stage and he just wants to stay with me all the time, however I return to work next month and I need to know that bedtime will be in check. Maybe he can sense something big is about to happen? Maybe he knows Mummy will not be here as much....?

Whatever the reason is, I am optimistic that implementing controlled crying into our routine may make bedtime easier in the long run... even if I do shed a few tears along the way.

Laura

xx

Saturday Is Caption Day!

Well it is that time of the week again! We have finally reached Saturday and of course that means...It is caption day! 

This weeks image could not be pinned down to just one, as Leo's entire experience of eating his first ice cream cone was worthy of a selection! This should make the captions very easy to come up with!

Let the captions begin!

Laura

xx

Leo Visits The Office...

Today was a day all about preparation, and I finally wrote my letter of intent to return to the office. It is something I have been meaning to do for a while but have pushed back and back, as though writing the letter and handing it in...Made my return to work more real and something that was really happening.

My official date to return to work is Wednesday 25th July 2012.

I took my little man into the office with me to hand deliver the already late letter to HR. Of course Leo was centre of attention, and suddenly decided he was going to play shy. Which we all know he is not.

I was very excited to show off his new words but after shouting 'Bear' all the way there in the car, he was suddenly silent and refusing to say a word. I am sure everyone thought I was telling little porkies or that the maternity leave was slowly making my mind boggle.

I have now booked my holiday allocation that will take me through until July 24th 2012, and will leave my bank account looking fresh and full - ready to be spent of course and boy do I have some big plans!

Filling out the holiday form took me longer than it usually would, Leo managed to turn a 2 minute job into a 15 minute job....I guess that is why you don't take babies to work with you!

Sitting at my desk sorting it all out with a little monster crawling around and opening all my desk draws up before crawling off to marvel at the printer. Along the way he found his reflection in the rather big plant potts scattered around the room, so of course he stopped and gave himself a little kiss. My boss even commented on how having Leo around was similar to having a office pet, Leo even had the stripes to match as he was donning his Tigger outfit.

With all the room completely side tracked with Leo's presence, I made a point of telling them that when I did make my return in July...They need not worry as I would not hide Leo away in my hand bag and it would just be I - Laura returning full time.

They all seemed a little in awe of my little guy, and sat intently watching him eye up his next target. Once Leo had settled into his new surroundings he was very happy and any shyness that he had brought into the building with him was not leaving with him. He never did show off his new words in the office, he waited until we were just getting back into the car to leave and growled right into my ear. Little monster....

So that is it, I am officially returning to work full time and the date is in the diary. This Mummy is not going to know what has hit her when that date eventually gets here...

Maybe they would not notice if Leo does come along? Although after seeing him run wild in there today... I think they would probably suspect something was not quite right...

Laura

xx

Leo's First Words

When a baby starts to say his first words it is a ever growing reminder that they are not the little baby that they used to be. They are growing up and like a sponge, they are absorbing every little bit of detail that you expose them too, and it is only a matter of time before they action the information that they have been taking in.

Of course Leo has said 'Mum, Mum' and 'Dad, Dad' which has put great big smiles on both of our faces but Leo can also say 'Bear', where this word has come from...I have no idea, but it is as clear as day. To make it even more exciting, Leo will even growl when he say's 'Bear'!

'Bear seems to be his favourite word, and if he hears you say bear then he feels he must join in. He first said 'Bear' a couple of weeks ago and at first I thought it was just him putting the sounds together, which of course he probably was. As the weeks have passed we have all been showing him what a bear actually is and saying the word over and over again, sure enough Leo has picked it up and run away with it.

Leo seems to be picking so much up now, if he hears me make a certain noise he tries to copy it. Just last night we were having a lovely game of 'Nappy Head' - if you have not heard me talk about this before...Well you are in for a treat. I must stress we are not as crazy as we may sound....

'Nappy Head' came about during one nappy change, we both took turns to wear the nappy as a hat. Leo loves to pull the Nappy off his own head and also mine, although he usually takes a handful of my hair at the same time...However... Last night we were playing the usual game and I was met with the same excited giggles as always. When Leo pulled the nappy off my head, I pointed my finger and playfully shouted 'No, No, No'. You can imagine my surprise when Leo pointed his finger and shouted it back to me!

I could not believe my ears. my beautiful baby boy was copying words right there on the spot. The game continued and he repeated his new sounds again and again! Daddy, Granny, his Aunt and Uncle were all there to witness my little clever clogs, and they all looked just as taken a back as me, but everyone was just so tickled by Leo shouting at waving his finger, that the room was taken over with giggles.

It was just this morning that I dropped something on the floor, being the clumsy Mummy that I am...and of course I said 'Ught Oh' only to have the sound repeated back to me by my little man. He has been doing it all day now and mimics the words back to me when I say them.

If little man is eating his dinner and he hears you say 'Mmmm' you can rest assured that he will repeat the noise to you, confirming just how much he is enjoying his food.

I can safely say Leo's first word 'Bear' was at 10 months and his second words came along at 11 months. I am so proud of everything Leo is achieving and how quickly he seems to be progressing.

One thing is for sure though....I am now going to have to really watch what I say....Just to be on the safe side!

When did your little ones say their first words and what did they say?