Around the 4 or 5 month mark, there was a time where Autumn was sleeping better, but began to wake up routinely around the 3AM hour. Having become accustomed to regimented feedings, her biological clock was just doing it's thing - what it was programmed to do. Much to Mom's chagrin, it was time for a reprograming, and no matter how long Autumn cried, entry to her room was a no-no. Was it tough on those nights where she went a solid hour? Sure, but we've both heard stories of worse experiences from other parents.
What was compelling about actually listening to Autumn cry was how the tone of her voice came in patterns, along with different pitches and volumes. In listening to her cry, it quickly became clear what type of cry it was - hunger, dirty, and the best, crying just for the sake of making some noise because she was lonely. That last one was the toughest to ignore, by far. There's a strange feeling of satisfaction when you realize you've figured out a part of your kid's communication set, and learning when Autumn was "just faking it" with her cries made for a lot of self confidence in sticking to the cry-it out practice.
We're really happy about learning this early on, because it continues to pay dividends these several months later.
As we enetered the teething cycle, we found ourselves again being woken around the 4AM hour. The cry was an unfamiliar cry of discomfort and grouch... thankfully, this mouth pain was so noticably different that we discovered early on the benefits of the (occasional) use of Children's Ambisol and Baby Motrin. After holding firm and only rescueing her from the pain on the worst of nights, the result? One sunshiney baby Autumn every morning, and a now well rested Mom and Dad too.
