It's always all about sleep...

...but at least this post is about getting more of it. After a week of Matthew waking up and crying and wanting to be rocked and entertained and generally not sleeping during the night for hours, we resorted to our last resort. The dreaded "cry it out" method. Which, incidentally, resulted in much, much, much less crying by both me and Matt in the middle of the night.

Jeff and I decided to let Matt cry for a little while, maybe up to 20 minutes, when he woke up in the night so he could settle himself back down. This hurt me so much, just listening to him rolling around and crying. But the alternative––endless nights of crying and rocking and days that seem endless because of sleep deprivation––just wasn't going to work anymore. I didn't know if I'd be able to resist going in and picking Matthew up and falling into the same routine. But with Jeff's help and lots of praying, we made it through. Both Matt and I are much better able to enjoy the days now, too, having actually gotten some rest.

First night: Matt woke up and cried for 10 minutes. He woke up a second time and cried for 6 minutes.
Second night: Woke up twice. 4 minutes of crying each time. Woke up a third time and talked happily to himself for half an hour then fell back asleep.
Third night: Woke up twice. 3 minutes of crying each time.
Fourth night: Woke up once. Made some noises for about 2 minutes. Made another noise later on, but I don't think he was awake.

And now everything seems bearable again. If you'd told me even two weeks ago that I'd let my baby cry in the night, I would have said you were delusional. This was probably the most heartbreaking decision I've ever had to make, but I think we did the right thing. And now, I'm thinking, one of the great things is that when Matthew cries in the night later on (because he will; he's a baby), I'll actually be able to tell if he needs something or what the deal is. We're coming to an understanding.

Now if only we could come to an understanding about how he needs to get better at eating solid foods...