Easement Into Sleep - Week Two

Overall, week two went pretty well; however, we've had a couple things derail some of our easement progress.

• A NEW TRICK - Cub has learned how to pull himself up (yeah), but does not know how to sit back down (boo).

This means that Cub will stand up and cry until we come back in the room and put him back down. About 30 seconds later, he's standing back up again and crying. Buttin and I tried lowering the crib - no luck, he could still reach the bars. We tried adding another crib bumper - no luck, he could pull it down and reach the bars. Finally, we turned Cub's bed into an extremely classy paper towel and duck tape experiment (see awesome picture below - I think we should win some kind of parenting award) - no luck, Cub could still manage to get up.


When Cub is really tired, he doesn't really try to stand up in bed - it's more of an issue during nap time. Eventually, he'll learn how to sit down and be confident enough to do it (he is practicing) on his own, but for a while we'll help him.

• A BAD COLD - whenever we know Cub isn't feeling well, it's just too difficult to let him cry or fuss for too long.
  

As with last week, we have to modify expectations (both of Cub and of ourselves) and rules. Buttin and I both feel that when Cub is ill, it's good to give him more comfort. We haven't needed to pat him to sleep, but we do pat his back for a few minutes before leaving the room. This seems to help ease him to sleep without protest - which is a very good thing for all of us.

Buttin and I are still very pleased with our progress and understand that (as with all things Cub related) it's a little bit forward and a little bit backwards.