This is the face that haunts me each and every day. I put him down and this is what happens, I think even for a second about doing something for myself, without him, and this is how he reacts.
I understand this might be the product of my own overindulgence. But, is it even possible for a 4 month old to manipulate me this badly? Am I that big of a sucker!?
Hi, my name is Sarah, and my child has me wrapped around his finger.
Now that we've accepted this, what are we going to do to fix it? The obvious is the "cry it out," or Ferber method. Not my favorite. There have been dozens of studies and tons of research to support that this method is bullshit. And, could potentially cause more harm than good. See..this, or this.
Then there are women like Erica Jong who liken "attachment parenting," to prison. Even going as far as to say attachment parenting has vicitimized women. While I think she is a little extreme in her analysis, I get what she is saying, mostly because I am living it. I feel like I can't do anything without my child and, in a sense, I am imprisoned by him and his needs. And, quite frankly, this is not healthy for him or me.
So the Armon/Callahan household is at a crossroads. We are losing our minds trying to figure out what is going on with this little boy. We have thought of growth spurts, teething, hunger, tummy aches, reflux, exhaustion and overstimulation....but maybe the problem is he has figured us out, has our number on speed dial and is using it to his advantage. Maybe there is a happy medium between the (ugh) cry it out camp, and the wear your baby 24/7 attachment parenting camp.
NOW, I'm not saying we will let him go bat shit crazy and cry his face off for an hour, but maybe we actually are giving in too much to avoid hearing the God awful noise of a babys cry. Maybe he does need to learn we wont jump at every noise....or maybe we'll just start handing him random stuff to see what he does...this bowl seemed to work...
P.S. This is and EXCELLENT base reference to why I will not let my baby "cry it out."
he looks like his grandpa in the 2nd picture. and the 3rd picture had me almost pissing myself. you are doing everything exactly the way it should be done - you'll all be fine. I swear.
ReplyDelete