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From: cnrdean@topaz.berkeley.edu
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Re: 1 year old sleeping problems
Message-ID: <1453@jade.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: Wed, 15-Oct-86 11:47:40 EDT
Article-I.D.: jade.1453
Posted: Wed Oct 15 11:47:40 1986
Date-Received: Thu, 16-Oct-86 22:14:49 EDT
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Organization: University of California, Berkeley
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Keywords: Let him cry


Haven't you noticed that your own sleeping habits can be changed by
a few nights modification.  If I wake up at 3:00 a.m. (on my own) and
get out of bed a couple of times, suddenly it starts happening 
every night.  The only way I can get out of this pattern is
to force myself to not get up.  It's tough the first couple of nights
to break this habit.

Same thing with the kids.  They wake up at some hour, get some
reinforcement (eg. food), and it gets to be a pattern.  Also, very 
tough to break, especially for the parents.

If the kids are old enough, sweat it out for a few nights.  It'll pay off.
It's tougher with the first kid, I know (two girls here).  My advice to 
one-kidders (and other parents who raise their kids like they (the kids) 
were some project):  1)  Close the door and turn the radio on.  2)  Imagine
you are the parents of six kids.  Are you going to get up every time
one of those kids starts screaming?  (My observation while growing
up was that kids from big families were MUCH more mellow than 
only kids.  My observation now is that parents of multiple kids are
more mellow.  Parents of single kids are creeps, and I avoid them.
They are always telling us about what it says in some book.  These are
the same people who got a dog to practice on before they had kids at
age 39.  And, the dog is usually some 12-inch dog, who they put on a
leash once a day for "walkies".  My dog Mojo ate those dogs for
snacks.)  3)  Have another kid.  Screw your career.  You know
your family makes you feel more complete.

Now, having said this, don't always follow this sage advice:  One
night, my younger girl started screaming, and we said, let her cry.
Sure enough, she stopped after 30 minutes.  We got up in the morning
to find that she had fallen out of bed and cut her lip.  Boy did I
feel bad.