The Pause
misty · Thu, Nov 19, 2015This morning, Chase was kind enough to take Milo for a walk (to get the Jamba Juice that he set out for the other morning) while I slept a bit. She was up early at 6am, so this allowed her to get a short nap in, which she needed. After he got home, he set off for work, and I got Milo to take another nap (for an hour, while I slept next to her!). Great start to the day.
Later in the day, I started reading Bringing Up Bébé during Milo’s naps. She wanted to sleep lots, so I cautiously let her while getting some reading done. In this book, they talk about “the pause,” which is something French parents do without even thinking about it: when the baby cries (during sleep), they pause for 5-10 minutes before going to attend to him. During this time, the baby will learn to self-soothe, which often leads to longer sleep times. According to this book, French babies sleep through the night very early - around 3-4 months - and they view American babies’ inability to sleep through the night as very odd and even destructive to the family. Interesting.
The book also says that if you don’t do the pause regularly by the time the baby is 4 months old, you’ll have to do some version of the “cry it out” method to teach the baby to self-soothe. Milo will be 4 months very soon, so I fear that it’s too late for my girl. We’ll see.
The book also discusses putting the baby on a feeding schedule, which is an idea I’m not entirely keen on. I’ll have to read more about food schedules.
As for Ms. Milo, she’s doing better at using her hands lately. She can put her hands on more things and is intent on putting everything in her mouth. She isn’t trying quite as hard to roll over, but she does still move her body all over the place when on the floor or bed. Or just always. She’s such a strong girl!