We began HG's sleep training earlier this evening. Yes that's right, we're doing this on New Year's Eve. I guess we figured the day doesn't have any real significance to us at this point - we can't very well take the baby out partying - and since our neighbors will most likely be awake until midnight anyway, at least it won't keep them up.
All in all, it hasn't been too terribly bad... so far. Not that Hank isn't putting up a fight. KG put him down at around 7:10 and he cried/screamed off and on (mostly on) for the next hour-and-a-half. As dictated by Dr. Richard Ferber's sleep training book, KG would briefly enter his room every ten minutes to say soothing, kind things, but never to pick him up. Meanwhile, I made dinner (this is not part of Ferber's method but it's a good idea nonetheless if your spouse is in there fighting the good fight). At 8:45 HG finally fell asleep and KG and I sat down to dinner, bleary-eyed and dazed but hopeful. Ten minutes later the little guy woke up again, cried for a 3 or 4 minutes, then whimpered himself to sleep. He hasn't woken up since.
It's a little after 10:00 now. KG's taking a bath. Next time the baby wakes up it's my turn to take a round.
As KG aptly put it, this whole thing is sort of like lancing a wound. There's an acute, hard to take sting right up front, followed by a long, LONG sought after relief. Right now, I'm somewhere in between. I'll try to keep posting as the night goes on.
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