Crying It Out

This morning, Malachi woke up at 4:30 am for his nighttime nurse and rock. He was WET, so I had to change his diaper and jammies and Samuel changed his sheet. At 5:30, after nursing, rocking, trying to put him down, screaming and even watching some Sesame Street, Malachi was still not asleep (weird for him) and so Samuel tried rocking him for 15 minutes before he had to leave for work. Samuel gave him back to me since he cried when Samuel tried putting him to bed and Samuel had to leave. On his way out, Samuel kicked one of Malachi's toys so, of course, Malachi recognized the sound and woke right up and was laughing and playing. By 6 am, Malachi was so asleep that his thumb has fallen out of his mouth, so I thought for sure that I would be able to transfer him to his crib no problem. Well, I was WRONG!! The second his little limp hand touched the mattress, he woke right up, screaming his head off. I long for the days when I could put him in his crib semi-sleepy with a set of plastic keys and his stuffed monkey and you could hear him over the monitor rattling his keys and talking to Monkey until he drifted off to sleep...usually less than 15 minutes after we laid him down. Back to present day. I was STARVING (I hate how I always get hungry when I nurse at night!!), so I said a "go to sleep" prayer and made myself a snack and watched TV while I ate. So, 15 minutes go by and he is still crying, gagging a little, and generally sounding like he is being tortured. I felt bad but thought to myself, I will give him 5 more minutes and if he hasn't calmed down, I will go get him. So I space out for a bit, and lo and behold, he stops crying and I can hear him sucking his thumb. He hasn't calmed himself down like this in several weeks!! Could it be?!? God, are You playing a nasty trick on me, or am I going to be able to go back to sleep this morning? I sat still for a couple more minutes to make sure I'm not dreaming, but it is real. I quietly walked down the hallway and climbed into bed...so nice. I know that you BabyWise mommies are laughing at me right now, but we let him cry it out several times a week, and it usually doesn't do anything but get him MADDDDDD. So, this morning I am thankful for "crying it out" and the extra sleep it got me. Happy Friday!!