Something designed to protect your baby from the harsh elements???
Hmmm. Not exactly. It's a catchy little phrase I'd heard once or twice before watching a hilarious recent episode of the sitcom Modern Family. It piqued my interest -- especially since TJ and I have been discussing for a while now how Riley is about to "Hulk" herself out of the velcro sleep swaddle and the nagging notion that the binky may cause orthodontic problems down the road. Those issues, coupled with the fact that the word "Ferberization" is just so fun to say, convinced us to do what any good parents would do...refuse to leave well enough alone.
To Ferberize actually means to "teach" your baby the finer points of crying herself to sleep. It involves...wait for it...letting her cry herself to sleep. Complicated, I know.
Okay, to be fair, there's actually a recommended methodology that introduces a number of crying intervals interrupted by the parents' brief, soothing presence. The problem with the interval training is the fact that our unrestricted sleeping baby is too friggin' hilarious. The first time we went to check on Riley after about 20 minutes of crying, she was borderline asleep, with arms and legs splayed out, blankets up over her head. We both started cracking up, which of course woke her up and pissed her off. Lesson learned. You must be very quiet when entertaining yourself at your Ferber-fledgling's expense.
So far, we've seen the following poses: both arms out to the sides, one arm straight up and the other in a bicep muscle pose, arms and blankets up over the head, soft giraffe stuffy over the eyes and both arms over the face. Must give her credit though...she's sleeping through the night just like before. Now we're just waiting to see how long it takes before we walk in and find her sleeping standing on her head. I managed to capture a photo of the Ferberization hibernation. She flinched, but didn't wake up. A+ for my stealth like photography skills.
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