Sleep Training Saga, part 2

We did ST night 6 tonight. It's been TOUGH! Because kaua is an "older" baby, the normal ST methods that I've been reading about with timed checks weren't working. Every time we went in to check on him, it'd make him scream even more. Also, because he can stand (almost walking, but not quite, he did take his first step today on his own, but quickly went down to his knees and wouldn't repeat it), he stands in his crib throwing huge tantrums when he's crying it out. I searched and searched the baby boards about sleep training for solutions because Kaua would easily be able to cry for 1 hour plus and stand the whole time. Finally, I discovered that with older babies, because they're older, they've got more stamina and can cry longer, scream louder and generally dont fare well with checks. Also, with the standing, no matter how much you go in and try to lie them back down, they'll just pop back up. I finally read several posts from other moms who've had to ST their toddler who've said that they basically do CIO-extinction method (no checks) with 1 15-20 minute check initially. I started this last night with Kaua and it seems to be the best method. He only gets more pissed whenever we check him (check = shush, pat or brief pick up put down). The only reason why we check him is to make sure he's not hurt, wet, and knows that while we mean business about him sleeping on his own in his crib, we're not abandoning him.

Kaua still cries when we put him in his crib, and cry isn't exactly the word, it's more of a scream/tantrum/rage. But the time it takes from the beginning of this process to him sleeping is slowly decreasing. It took 1 hour 15 mins. the first night and tonight it was about 1/2 an hour. He still also wakes up in the middle of the night (MOTN), but those wakes have been getting better. I'd say he wakes on average about 3 x a night. The hardest MOTN waking for him to fall back asleep is the one at the 5:00 am hour. He seems to not want to go back to sleep and is very willing to throw a tantrum until daylight appears, so I'm not quite sure what's the best way to handle this. I've resorted to letting him sleep with us for that last 1-2 hours just to get some sleep for all of us.

I'm greatly looking forward to those days when he'll go down in his crib awake and not need to throw himself a tantrum before sleeping. It is difficult to knowingly allow your kid to scream and cry in that manner for that long, but I know it will be worth it. I know that in order for this to work, however, we need to stick with the training. We've got a bed time routine down and as soon as Kaua figures out that this is the way it's going to be, I'm sure it'll get easier (I hope....).

As for the pregnancy, thanks so much for the congratulations and well wishes everyone. It seems to be going well, but I have no idea what's going on in there. I'm going by faith that all is well until my next appointment next week.