If Mr. Ferber is right and sleep patterns have anything to do with parenting choices and abilities, then I have reason to be depressed. That would imply that our parenting skills regressed fairly dramatically from our first child to our last.
Our first child slept through the night at two weeks of age and has been doing so consistently ever since. Our second child started sleeping through the night at about 2 or 3 months of age, but then at 5 months, she regressed and started waking up again. After about 4 months of that, she got her groove back, and other than a few brief periods in toddler-hood has been a pretty consistent sleeper since.
Our third child? Well, she’s 6 years old and STILL has fairly regular periods where she wakes up every night. Last night she climbed into our bed twice (and both times, after a short cuddle, was sent back to her bed).
Come to think of it, the same thing happened with potty training – the last one took the longest and caused the most frustration. Oh – and soother-sucking too. She only gave up her soother at the age of three when we convinced her that my sister’s upcoming baby would need a soother and perhaps she could pass it on.
Now I’m REALLY getting depressed.
Apparently, I’ve forgotten everything I once knew about parenting.