No Crying Out...The Ferber Method!!

It was that time, the moment to which we were so apprehensive, letting CJ go to bed on his own.  I had spent many of days being a stealth, sly ninja carrying him from our bedroom to his own once he fell asleep on the breast.  I would wait until he had fallen deep into sleep (light sleep will not get it) and “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon” my way out of the bed, maintaining a stable hold where he lay in my arms.  I would hold my breath to reduce chest movement; oh yes (moms should know this) it was that serious.  Truthfully, I could have done that forever, but there comes a time when you have to tell yourself he/she needs to learn how to put him or herself to sleep.  With that said, I refused to do the cry it out method.  Especially after hearing horror stories of 3 hour long crying sessions.  The thought of him crying hysterically while I just lay there made me want to cry as myself.  Fortunately, like most tech savvy moms, I thrive on an internet connection with other moms and ended up finding everything from let them cry until they fall asleep to co-sleeping until like 3 years of age.  The most interesting thing I found seemed to be a compromise and the was called the Ferber method.  I am not sure how you are supposed to quote things in a blog so will just say specific details can be found on the internet.  O.k. so back to basics, I actually cannot remember exactly where I saw it but I usually prefer to get my info from women who have gone through what I am going through.  Basically what you do is on let the baby cry for intervals.  The particular person had said, you put your baby down (awake) in the crib and leave.  You let them cry for 5 minutes and go back in and soothe him or her, without picking them up, for no more than 1 min.  If the baby is still crying, wait 10 minutes and repeat.  Next interval is 20 minutes.  You can choose to go longer or stop at 20 minutes.  I never got passed 20 minutes and it actually only took 3 days.  After that I he cried, but stopped before 5 minutes.  After a couple of weeks, there was no crying and by like 10 months he pretty much started jumping out of my hands to get in the crib.  He doesn’t like being rocked to sleep anymore.  Wait, I actually forgot something, he did still wake up in the middle of the night, but you are able to pick them up during this time and it helps them know if really needed you are there.  I am not 100% sure the midnight sleep is from Ferber, but it was recommended on the site I found.  Some nights I pinch myself because I had the wake up every hour and a half (in the beginning ) baby, then I had the wake up 2-3 times per night after 6 months baby.  So the fact that I pretty much can count on putting him to bed around 7:15p/7:30p and getting started with my stuff does not seem real.  I actually didn’t realize I have a baby that sleeps 11-12 hours a night until my neighbor asked me his sleep schedule and freaked out.  Thanks Ferber!!!