My newborn baby slept soundly for the first month of his life.
He slept so soundly that he had us slightly worried.
In the hospital we were told that an infant needs to feed every 2-3 hours.
My baby loved to sleep for 5 hours in a stretch.
I look back on those days and wonder "what on earth happened?" We seemed to have done a complete 360 degree turn and my head is still spinning in motion.
Instead of trying to wake him up for a feeding, I am now trying to put him down to sleep and keep him sleeping.
In the first two months I found that holding him with his head resting on my shoulder and rocking in a chair would aid him to drift to sleep.
I was then able to gently place him down for a nap without him waking.
For the next couple of months this sleep technique no longer worked and I would carry him around in the front pack.
He would fall asleep and stay asleep in the front pack.
However anytime during his slumber that I would attempt to remove myself from the front pack, he would awaken immediately.
Any mother knows that babies become incredibly heavy after a while even when they are just a newborn bundle.
I attempted a different sleep technique where I would walk him around singing lullabies until he fell asleep, once again this can become an inefficient sleep technique because it ends up tiring the mother out more.
I went from walking to sitting and rocking him to sleep.
After a few days the rocking seemed to be making matters worse and after assessing the situation I believe that he was over stimulated.
Rocking in itself was sufficient, but the singing and rocking combined was simply too much for our baby.
All the mentioned sleep techniques were successful in getting my baby to sleep, however the main disadvantage was that he was attached to me.
He needed to be held and be surrounded by mothering.
That meant that my night would be consumed by my baby, no time for cooking dinner or taking a shower...
As a mother I chose this form of bond and commitment because the sleep technique met my babies needs.
I did have a sleeping baby in my arms without him crying himself to sleep.
When I would place his sleeping body on our bed, he would awaken immediately.
I then found myself picking him up and soothing him to sleep in our bed all over again.
I realized that I was making double work for myself and decided to simply climb into bed with him and hold him in my arms.
I would pat his back, give him a feeding and he would after some time of soothing, drift off to sleep.
Transitioning our baby from my arms onto the bed, still had him wake up.
It took me several nights to find a routine that would allow him to feel safe and secure to fall right back to sleep.
Once he was safely on the bed and his eyes opened, I would lie with my head touching his and gently pat his back.
Continuing this sleep technique for a couple of months I was then able to lie him down on the bed without him waking up.
I have continued with this sleep technique ever since and I feel that it has rewarded me with wonderful moments.
It is an incredible feeling when during light sleep he can open his eyes and look at me.
He will beam a big smile and I will think "oh, man he is awake!", but no sooner has his smile faded and his eyes are shut.
It sends such a message of love and trust to my heart that is priceless.
I could never then take away these wonderful moments by placing him in his crib to cry himself to sleep.
I know as his mother that on most occasions his crying will escalate to screaming regardless of the cause.
He is then inconsolable for hours.
I believe then to even attempt the "cry-it-out" method is only asking for more problems.