A great thing is happening

:::Knock On Wood:::

I am posting this with great hesitation and even more excitement.

Carson has slept at least 8 hours straight after falling asleep on his own in his crib for the last 4 nights straight!!!

I can't even begin to describe what this finally means. I (we) had gone for 11 months without a single night of uninterrupted sleep, most of which with MULTIPLE awakenings. The only way either of us were sleeping is with him in bed with me. But that is far from ideal because we wake each other up and it really takes its toll on my body. After days of putting him to bed and having him awake within 2 hours, I was at my wits end on Monday night. In the past I strongly didn't want to just let him "cry it out", but I knew we may have to try it if all else failed. Actually, this was about the 4th time I have tried letting him cry in the last 2 or 3 months, but obviously it hadn't worked. The last time I tried he literally cried for 3 hours straight before sitting awake in the dark looking so pitiful. It really broke my heart and it didn't do either of us any good in the end.

Back to this Monday night...I fed Carson after his bath and put him to bed like usual. He woke up at 9:25, but this time I didn't go back in and waited to see what would happen. He cried off and on until 11:10 (I went in and checked on him periodically) and at 11:35 he fell asleep while I rubbed his face and chest. He stayed asleep until 6:20am! Of course I was awake much of that time because I am so trained to lay there and listen for him.

Tuesday morning I did our usual nap routine and put him down drowsy instead of totally asleep. He cried for about 45 minutes, but then it got silent. I went in to check on him and it looked like he had been sitting up and just fell over and slept that way. Of course I took a picture:


Tuesday night I put him down awake and he slept until 4:00am! I went in and fed him because we still have to phase out all of the night feedings. He fell back asleep on his own in the crib after that.

And again Wednesday night and last night he slept until 4am, I fed him and he then slept until 7:15. He has had great naps all on his own and hasn't even missed one this week.

So, from day 1 my goal has been to teach him how to fall asleep by himself. I can't believe this time it may actually be happening. Please send all your good thoughts and juju our way. I told Carl how liberating it actually feels and how much more I have accomplished this week. I think just the idea of not putting all my mental effort in trying to get him to sleep has cleared my mind to have the capacity to focus on other things. I love Carson with all my heart, but having SUCH a struggle for the last 11 months with neither of us sleeping well has really been affecting me.

:::Knock On Wood:::

And now, here are a few new pics of our new-found sleeper!!!