Two steps forward, one step back...
5 months
Last night our success continued. We put him down at 8:15. I hate to write in all caps but: HE SLEPT THERE UNTIL 11:45! That's a 3 1/2 hour stretch in his crib. And while I hate to overuse explanation points: !!!!!
Tonight he has been in his crib for a little over an hour and is still asleep, so I can't say yet whether we'll have more luck. But getting him down was unfun. He fought sleep. This is how it usually goes: I (or Jerry) rock him and he starts fussing. He puts his hands on my chest and pushes his body away from mine, his back stiff. Then he twists his body and tries to look behind him at the lights on the stereo. I redirect his body towards mine. He sucks his thumb, rests his head on my shoulder, and seems to calm down for ten seconds, then his head pops up, he grabs my nose like a piece of ripe fruit to be picked, then pulls a strand of my hair and tries to eat it, I redirect him to my shoulder, he starts crying, then sucks his thumb, then pulls away and cries harder, his eyes squinted and mouth in the shape of a rectangle...
This went on for 30 minutes before he collapsed in exhaustion.
So the weekend success of putting him in his crib and then walking away (without having to rock him) is no longer. At least for now.
The only thing that was different about this weekend is that his naps ended earlier, like at 4:00. During the week, I pick Jerry up at work and sometimes he falls asleep in the car around 5:00. So maybe if we can eliminate that last nap...