Can you mix attachment parenting with sleep training? I say yes, as we’ve been doing just that for the past few days.
Avery has been going to sleep in her crib for almost 2 weeks now, and when she wakes for feeding during the night, I’ll bring her to Kelley to have her fill.
Then, the plan was that I would take Avery back to the crib and get her back to sleep. Fail. Either Kelley or I will end up sleeping with her the rest of the night. Oh well, this way we all sleep longer without fighting to get her down in the crib. Win.
If she’s not fussy, she’ll stay with Kelley and have easy access to boob for the next feeding, but if she’s not going back to sleep, I’ll take over so Kelley can rest since she has to work.
All of the sleep training, cry it out method supporters are probably just thinking, “Suckers, they’ll never win.”, but I disagree. I know that being able to just hold Avery close and cuddle with her (yes, I said cuddle and I’m not ashamed!) will not last forever, so making the most of this time only seems right. Kelley and I both agree with this as we all know time goes too fast and we don’t want to waste it trying several times to get her to sleep in her crib at night.
She does just fine in the crib during the day, and eventually, we know the inevitable will happen, but for now, I see no harm. The other day as the cold front swept in, our heater crapped out and blew nothing but cold air which woke Avery from her nap. I had things to do around the house, but wanted to make sure she was rested and happy before Kelley got home. So I brought her to the recliner, wrapped in my jacket, and just rocked with her until she was asleep again.
The sun went down and I had to pee pretty bad, but didn’t want to stop holding her. So I sat in a cold, dark room with a full bladder until se had a good sleep and Kelley was home and ready to see our happy baby. It doesn’t sound like a big deal, but I’ll remember that time for years to come.
Yesterday it remained cold here in the Lone Star State, and we were graced with snow. This was Avery’s first! She wasn’t doing very good in the nap department, but we eventually ventured outside with her oversized bear coat. She was pretty damn cute with her long sleeves flapping as she moved her arms all over!
After the photo session to document her first snow, we went on another Long, Cold Walk just like the day before. She was squirmy at first, but before I knew it, she was sound asleep and I was just talking to myself (not uncommon). And so another long, cold walk ensued. I thought I lost an ear at one point, but it was just my whole face turning numb……then burning. 3+ miles in the books and I loved every second.
Once we returned, I couldn’t help but try for a few more pictures. I even tried making snow angels with her facing out in the Baby Bjorn..
That was my first and last try to do that!
It’s still cold her and more snow might come, so I’ll try for round three of walking with Avery to see if she’ll nap again.
What are your thoughts on sleep training and the various methods used to get your baby to sleep?
How do you make the most out of the time with your baby before they are all grown up?
