Long seven months had passed since I gave birth to my lovely first son Ahmed. He needed constant care which I was happy to provide for him, it is a blessing to care for such a tiny beautiful human being. I just had this one problem that was very stressful, Ahmed was very depending on me when it came to sleep. At first, he was sleeping on breast and then whenever I put him to bed, he wakes up instantly crying for me to hold him again.
After that rocking became his favorite way to go to sleep but then it started to be tougher for him to go to sleep and he became heavier and more resisting.
All this wasn't very important to me; i was willing to take it for him. The main problem was that after all this effort; he couldn't sleep alone when I put him to bed.
If you were having the same issue, all you need to do is to follow "Controlled management method" which is the best and most successful for stubborn kids like my child.
How controlled management method work?
First of all you must have consistent and fixed sleep routine for your kid. I usually give him a breast feed, change his diaper, and hold him for a minute to soothe him, switch off bright light, and put him to bed, sing, and play soft music.
You shouldn't follow the same routine; create your own according to you and your kid as I did.
The first night follow your routine and go out of the room wher he can't see you, wait for a minute and go check on him and spend another minute then go out again. Wait two minutes and come back for a minute, then wait for three minute and stay one minute, and so on until he gets to sleep.
Time intervals can be 2, 4, 8, .... Or 5, 10, 15,... Or whatever suits you. If your child was getting more upset when you come back, maybe you should wait outside until he sleeps. The first few nights will be very hard but think of his best interest and how relieved he will be when he learns to sleep on his own without needing to scream for you every time he wakes.
The program shall take between 3 to 14 days maximum and you will achieve the goal. Mine took about 3 days and he sometimes he protests now but it's way better than before.
Important thing to put in consideration if you decided to follow this approach, make sure that you're taking very good care of your baby during the day and that he is happy. Also, if the baby was sick during the program, stop it immediately and continue after he is well again. And if he is really upset or cries for very long time, maybe you should pick him up and try some other time. Finally do the same thing during day naps as well.
I love my son very much and I'm kinda spoiling him, the worst moment of my life when he cries, but this was going out of my hands and it started to affect my energy. I guess that some tough love wouldn't hurt.
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