This is the title of a book that I finally picked up from the library yesterday. Its all about training children to sleep on their own for as long as they need. As far as getting babies, like Jerome, to sleep through the night, he basically says to let them cry. Lay them down at night and let them cry till they fall asleep, if they wake up during the night just let them cry. We did this with Adelynne when she was about six months old. The first night was filled with hours of crying, the next night was much better and so was the next. I think it only took three or four nights of crying and then she started sleeping completely through the night! It was great. But, for some reason when Jerome came along I started doubting whether or not I should do the same thing with him. It seems sort of cruel, however, according to Dr Weissbluth its not about cruelty or abandonment, its about teaching good sleeping habits. So, Jerome is now eleven months (yesterday!) and still getting up two to three times a night.
After reading the section about his age group I learned that what we did with Adelynne was exactly right. She is still a very good sleeper, however the book says that she should still be taking a nap which she hasn't done for almost a year. So, last night was our first night letting Jerome cry himself to sleep and he did great! He only cried for an hour initially and then a couple of hours later I heard some whimpering and that was it! He slept great the rest of the night! It was the best nights sleep I've had since he was born. It was great.
