u/fcjourney

With 2 littles and everything going on in the world I feel like it’s only responsible to get an emergency plan together. However, I feel overwhelmed trying to account for every contingency (I know it’s not possible but that doesn’t lessen the anxiety!) and dont know where to start. Most of the prepper resources I’ve come across also seem geared towards a different demographic than moderately granola moms, like a lot of emphasis on meat (I worry more about how to get vegetables and fruits during an emergency) and defending your property from looters (call me naive but I prefer to believe in the good of my fellow humans). Has anyone in this group found a good resource they jibed with or can offer tips from their own prep?

6 month old, almost a full week of CIO with minimal improvement at bedtime. Our goal is just to fall asleep without assistance. Previously we were trying everything short of nursing to help LO fall asleep in the crib and do at least a few hours before being brought to bed for cosleeping after first wake. Nothing was working—lots of false starts, longest stretch of 2-3 hours, then 4-5 wakes afterwards until awake for the day between 6-6:30. So we decided to go for CIO.

We don’t really have a schedule; my spouse who is the daytime caregiver goes off vibes and reports that LO sleeps between 2-3 hours across 3-4 naps, all in the carrier or car seat. Baby refuses to crib nap. I try to set bedtime 3-3.5 hours after last nap, which usually puts us around 8.

We have a consistent routine that takes about 10 minutes with no feeding involved (last feed is at least 30 minutes before bedtime).

For the first few nights, LO progressively pushed back first wake, hitting a record of 1 AM before “regressing” to 11 PM last 2 nights. At first wake I bring LO to bed and pop on the boob and we both drift off back to sleep. Rest of night wakes are handled the same way. Again, for the first few nights the number of night wakes decreased but have since increased again.

Tonight after crying for 30 minutes LP is awake again after one sleep cycle, crying again :(

What is our problem? I blame the lack of schedule but my spouse blames the cosleeping.

Although I had a strong desire to, I never co-slept with my first (now 3) due to anxiety and social pressure. We did variations of CIO sleep training at 5 months and 8 months and in general sleep is OK but anytime there is a rough patch I regret being so draconian about sleep and wonder if I've done harm. Being in the middle of peak toddler tantruming also doesn't help with the guilt.

I've been co-sleeping with #2 since the 4 month regression. It's not the best thing about parenting for me but I'm getting more sleep than I would otherwise and it's working for my family situation right now. All things equal, I would continue as long as baby wanted it. However, I'm feeling tremendous guilt about not having offered the same to my first (kiddo has not expressed any desire to sleep in mom and dad's bed, although sometimes ask that we stay in their room). We are also considering a third and don't have the luxury of waiting due to age, so I've been flirting with the idea of sleep training again if a pregnancy happens, but the thought of going through all that crying again hurts my heart. Not sure what I'm looking for through this post, but any solidarity would be welcome. Thank you!