Saturday, January 3, 2009

Blissful Ignorance

Topher had his 9 month well-check yesterday. I really like our pediatrician cause he almost always gives me good news about everything, and has never made me feel bad about the way my kids are developing. When Lily was uber-chubby and in the 90th percentile for weight and stuff, he just said "She's healthy!". Then Topher dipped down to the 7th percentile for his weight this month and Dr. Leavitt said "He's active!" Thanks Dr. Leavitt! You rock.

Then we came to the end of our appointment and the doctor asked if I had any questions or concerns. I told him that Topher still is not sleeping through the night. Dr. Leavitt told me to just let him cry and work it out, no holding, no feeding. I told him about my failed attempts, and how I let Topher cry for 50 minutes straight that one time. He said to let Topher cry till the morning if I had to. This would not scar him in any way, and if need be I should buy earplugs.

Interestingly enough, Dr. Leavitt told me that if I had tried this when Topher was 4 or 5 months old, this process would have taken 2 or 3 days. But now that he is 9 months old, it could take up to a week and a half. But if I waited to try this when he turned 2 or 3, it could take up to a month. So 'better late than never' is a good cliche for the moment.

But the best cliche for last night is 'ignorance is bliss'. I decided not to even turn Topher's monitor on, and away I slept. I was awoken by Topher's stirring and gentle crying at... 7:45 am! I don't know if Topher cried last night. If he did, I don't know how long he cried for. It was kind of amazing. And when I got him this morning, he was in a good mood and happy to see me, so we're still friends and he is not holding a grudge, if there is even one that needs to be held!

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