Sleep

The other night as my husband and I were getting ready for bed, our dog, Trey, who was in his kennel, started barking. We thought this was unusual because he had just gone out to potty and he is used to sleeping in there.  Jokingly, I told my husband, we should just let him "bark it out" tonight.  Of course, we went to check on him and let him out of his kennel, and he came upstairs and got in bed with us (being a small dog, he easily fits at the foot of the bed).

After I made the joke about letting him cry bark it out, I started thinking about the way we treat our babies.  I wouldn't keep my dog locked in his kennel barking, even though I knew he was fed and had just gone potty, why would I ever keep my baby locked in his crib crying? (Ever notice how much cribs look like cages?)

Yet, I hear parents, frequently talking about how their babies eventually learned to sleep after they were left to cry it out in their cribs.  How much more do we love our children than our pets?  It was unthinkable to me to leave my dog in his cage barking, even if for purely selfish reasons-that I wanted to get some rest and not listen to him barking.  How many parents who have listened to their child cry, have been able to rest themselves?

I have tried to let my babies cry while I waited outside the room.  I felt terrible.  I wasn't at peace, and everything inside of me was also crying, "Go pick him up and hold him!"  It wasn't a quiet voice inside of me, but my instinct, my intuition was shouting at me, that this was not right.

And so, as I reflect on my apparently, lonely dog, and about to give birth to my 4th baby, I think back to those early days with my other children.  Granted, I have my share of some sleepless nights, but overall the majority of our nights were very calm and peaceful.  When my baby woke, I also woke to sounds of movement, thumb sucking and lip smacking, not crying.  My babies didn't need to cry to wake me, for they were sleeping right next to me.  Usually, all I had to do  was roll over and start nursing, before drifting back to sleep.  My husband and my dog slept through the whole exchange.  In the morning, was I always ready to jump up and start my day?  No, but I wasn't sleep deprived, I was ready to face another challenging day as a mommy.