Mama Monday: Sleep Training Part Two

I thought I had it all figured out. Cal was going down without a fight every time, and sometimes taking naps longer than 45 minutes (SCORE!). I got a little cocky, turning to Scott every time Cal had a good nap and saying, "See? All my hard work paid off."

Then Cal got a cold and couldn't go to sleep unless we rocked him because he had awful coughing fits. And then we traveled for two weeks. And now's he's teething. Basically, all bets are off.

While I'm glad that I used the pick-up/put-down method to start off, we have started letting Cal cry it out from time to time. At night he has pretty much figured it out and usually cries for about ten seconds before passing out into blissful slumber. Naptime is another beast entirely -- usually I hold him for five minutes in the rocking chair. If he falls asleep, great -- if not, I put him down in the crib and he usually cries for at least twenty minutes. :( However, now that he is teething, we're rocking him to sleep all the time -- he is just so miserable I can't stand to leave him to cry for more than a few minutes.

The lessons from all this?

1. No matter what the books say, it is impossible to 100% follow any one regimen.
2. Be flexible, because sometimes what usually works is not going to cut it.
3. There is no right way to do it.
4. The baby changes ALL THE TIME.

It makes me think of this post by one woman who was frustrating with trying to figure out sleep training. (Seriously, click over, I promise you'll be able to relate).

He's sleeping right now, and as long as he's happy, I'm happy. The end.