The Ups and Downs of Self-Soothing

William is 7 months old now and he is becoming more and more of a handful. Much like a puppy he has an appetite for shoes. He'll see shoes on the floor and commando crawl right over to them and attempt to devour them.

What is even worse than his desire to chew on shoes, is his recent sleep pattern. He has been sleeping for an hour, and then wakes up shrieking for attention :( At his 6 month appointment the pediatrician said that this was normal, and that we just need to leave him and let him learn to sooth himself. For Jeff this has been no problem, but for me it has been very hard and he knows that I'll cave. He will be crying and then as soon as I walk into the room he stops and looks at me; that is how I know he is faking it.

Tonight has been one of those nights. I made it about 7 minutes before I went in and checked on him. I rather him know that I am there to sooth him when he needs it than leave him on his own all the time. There are times when self-soothing is necessary but there are also times when it is faster and easier to help them with their soothing process.

I am interested in seeing how he is going to do on our trip to New Orleans on Sunday. I have a strong feeling that his sleep patterns are going to be way out of whack after an 8 hour car ride. We will see what happens.

Till next time
~Hilary

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