Now, this is amusing. Or not, depending, since marymont and I are bestest friends...
I did not find the concept of the family bed at all appealing, as I am an extremely light sleeper and I get migraines when chronically sleep deprived. I had the problem when my son was five months old that being an apartment manager meant I could not set a bad example by having a baby howl at all hours. So he and I got into the habit of nursing him to sleep. He liked it a lot, but I was a bags-packed-under-the-eyes shambling wreck by the time he was 8 months old. Plus, associating comfort with sucking can set your child up for sucking issues later on... and getting palate/teeth corrected because of thumb/finger sucking is NO fun, as I know from second-hand experience from a brother who went through that.
At any rate, my book of choice was "Solving your Child's Sleep Problems," by Dr. Richard Ferber. It's not for the faint of heart, though. And my son's 12 now, and has no trouble whatsoever falling asleep-- but I still do to this day. My mother allowed me to go to sleep with a bottle in my lips until I was an older toddler; I sucked my lower lip until I was 12 and had to consciously break myself of the habit.
I only had to go through one hideous night of "Ferberization" and then my son cured himself of the sucking-himself-to-sleep thing. Best thing that happened to me that year!
no subject
I did not find the concept of the family bed at all appealing, as I am an extremely light sleeper and I get migraines when chronically sleep deprived. I had the problem when my son was five months old that being an apartment manager meant I could not set a bad example by having a baby howl at all hours. So he and I got into the habit of nursing him to sleep. He liked it a lot, but I was a bags-packed-under-the-eyes shambling wreck by the time he was 8 months old. Plus, associating comfort with sucking can set your child up for sucking issues later on... and getting palate/teeth corrected because of thumb/finger sucking is NO fun, as I know from second-hand experience from a brother who went through that.
At any rate, my book of choice was "Solving your Child's Sleep Problems," by Dr. Richard Ferber. It's not for the faint of heart, though. And my son's 12 now, and has no trouble whatsoever falling asleep-- but I still do to this day. My mother allowed me to go to sleep with a bottle in my lips until I was an older toddler; I sucked my lower lip until I was 12 and had to consciously break myself of the habit.
I only had to go through one hideous night of "Ferberization" and then my son cured himself of the sucking-himself-to-sleep thing. Best thing that happened to me that year!