Letting Babies Cry It Out...Worth It

I may be premature in writing this so I hope I'm not jinxing (spelling?) myself. After weeks of letting Parker sleep on me or in his swing, it was starting to take its toll on me. I knew I was beginning to create a bad habit. Parker would start crying when I would lay him in his bed and in a few minutes I would pick him up and put him in the swing during the day to nap and at night either on me or in the swing. I did this mainly because I wanted to get things done around the house and I needed the sleep and it was just easier to do this. However, soon, I was getting frustrated with him sleeping on me. I did it mainly to get sleep but yet I didn't sleep well because I couldn't get comfortable. Also, I didn't want to let him cry it out because I felt so bad about it. But something had to change. We went to a friend's house who has a 5 month old and she told me about this book, Baby Wise. It's about creating a schedule that helps your child have predictability that in turn makes a happy baby who sleeps well. I must admit I was a little weary. I like routine but I'm not into the whole "at 9 exactly, he must eat" deal. However, that was not what it was about. It was more about routine with flexibility. It also mentioned that since I was starting this approach late I would have to endure some crying. I felt confident armed with this new information. I was not being a bad parent. Instead, I was doing what was best for my child in the long run. The first day was rough. I endured hours (not all at one time) of Parker crying. I kept myself busy reading another book on children and sleep to keep my mind off of the crying. However, today, the second day, things are looking up. I put Parker down for naps when he first showed signs of sleepiness and with only 5-10 minutes of whimpering, he was asleep. Tonight I put him to bed for the night left the room and when I sat in the chair to read my book, to my surprise, I heard nothing. I was so shocked that I had to peek in on him to make sure he was breathing! We still have some kinks in our routine to work out, but I'm committed to stick this out. I must say it is worth it to endure a little bit of heart wrenching crying in exchange for some nice sleep, both Parker's and ours.