This whole BW process is only a week old for us now, but luckily, we have seen some progress mixed with minor setbacks, probably just related to our LO adjusting to the new schedule(s). This morning I noticed that his fighting felt like he wanted me to back up, but he still cried, so I sat in the glider in his room and shushed him from there. He was alseep in less than 2 minutes. During his transitions, I decided not to touch him, but to extend his nap from 1.5 - 2 hours, I used just sh-sh and it worked. He jolted and flinched for almost a full ten minutes, but his eyes never opened. The 1.5 mark is always the hardest, because this is when he thinks he is ready to wake up, so I was amazed at this. The problem is, I get a headache sh-shing that loud. So of course, this has gotten me thinking, maybe he needs white noise! For his second nap, since I don't have a white noise machine, I tried the sh-sh again, but he was too anxious and was flailing all around. He still acted like he didn't want me to touch him, so I turned his radio onto a static station. He was asleep instantly, and I mean literally!! So I put his new humidifier in his room today and just realized that it has a super loud fan on the highest setting, which acts as a noise machine, with a constant hummmmm. I think I'm in love with this idea, but wanted to make sure I am not going to create another sleep crutch here. If I were to use white noise, would I be creating a crutch?? Is it something I can use and wean him off of it, when my presence is no longer needed, which seems to be the way already. If I phase it out, could that work or do I possibly have a child who is just so easily stimulated by sounds that he needs the buffer? He wakes a lot at night, sometimes every 30 minutes and during his naps, I literally have to tiptoe around or he wakes up. I dont know if as he matures, this will change, but for now, I need some sleep at night and he doesn't cry when he falls asleep with this method. Now, it is very possible that by tomorrow, this won't work for him, but it's worth a shot, if you don't think it's going to be too much of a crutch...
Another question, if I am going to use this, do I turn it on as part of the wind down process (I usually play a lullaby CD for that) or do I put him into his crib and then turn it on? Does anyone else use white noise for their babies?
Jessica
