I have embarked on a programme to improve Liam's ability to get himself back to sleep at night. Without my help. And without crying. Elisabeth Pantley has a number of suggestions in The no cry sleep solution, and I have decided to try a number of them, but not all at once.
First, I am bringing some order into our lives but developing routines. Routine times for naps, a routine time for bed time, and routines before naps and bedtime. The most important part begin getting up at the same time every day, so that everything else can fall into place from there.
After a week or two I plan to start implementing some of her harder ideas, like the 'Pantley Gentle Pull-off Plan" - detaching him from the nipple before he falls asleep - over and over again until he falls asleep without it in his mouth. I have tried it already, without succeeding, but I've decided to get the bedtime routine established better first, so that he's used to going to sleep at that time.
Then too, once Chris is back, and we already have an established bedtime and pre-bedtime routine, maybe Chris will be able to get him to sleep. Although the idea is not just that he falls asleep sans sucking, but that he falls asleep sans rocking, holding etc. So that when he wakes up not in my arms not rocking and not sucking, he doesn't wonder what the h-ll happened while he slept.
