I can't believe it took me over 2 and half months (since Crying It Out sleep training) to realize that how I put the baby down for naps and nightsleeps was probably a nightmare for J. Whenver I put him down to sleep, he'd scream at the top of his lungs and cry for a while before falling asleep. I never understood why he does this, because I don't put him down unless he shows definite signs of sleepiness (like rubbing his eyes, yawning, eyeballs rolling back, eyelids looking heavy). I would always think, 'you are so sleepy, I don't know why you won't sleep right away'. On the nights I am busy doing dishes or something and baby is sleepy, I'd ask hubby to put J in his crib. He'd always yell from the baby's room as he puts him down, asking me what he should do because J keeps crying and that he looks so sad/pissed/scared. I would always tell him "nothing! just come out of the room!" because I figured that the crying was just a part of how J falls asleep. I figured it's okay since J never cries for more than 5 or 10 minutes at night. He does cry longer for naps though because he wants to play. But that was the routine. I thought it was okay.
I was SO WRONG!
I never read to J before he goes to sleep because he was just too young and the few times I tried, he didn't seem to care at all, which discouraged me. I decided to put off reading until he turns one. Then for the past 2 nights, I sang to J holding him in my arms before putting him down in his crib and he doesn't cry and scream anymore! This just tells me I've been a horrible mother to him whenever bedtime rolled around, he probably cried, whined, and screamed because he felt neglected or something. I feel so bad!! But life goes on and I've learned my lesson.
New bedtime routine:
Hold, sing, sleep.
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