Crying to sleep

Ms_Loucel

 My son just turned one and he rarely sleeps through the night.  I usually pick him up when he wakes up in the middle of the night and I bring him back to our bed and he sleeps there until he wakes in the morning.  So he goes to sleep in his crib and then he winds up in our bed.  Now that he has turned one I don't want this to go on any longer so last night I just decided to speak to him and caress him as he lay in his crib crying.  He cried and cried and cried and cried.  It must have gone on for at least an hour . . . probably more.  He finally went to sleep because he wore himself out.  The day is almost over and I still feel guilty as heck.  I feel so bad that I let him cry for so long, but how else can I teach him that he has to fall asleep without me.  My heart feels so heavy and I know I have to do it again tonight if he wakes up.

Has anyone gone through something like this and does it even work?  How long does it take for the baby to learn that he is not going to get picked up.  I don't know if I am supposed to touch him or just talk to him or completely leave him alone.  I don't know if I am doing any of this right or am I supposed to be doing another method.

 Any advice?

katlizabeth

Read some sleep books so that you know what you're doing and feel confident in your decisions. 

Does he fall asleep on his own at night?  If not, that may be the place to start-at some point he needs to learn how to be awake in his crib and then fall asleep (or back asleep).  Good luck!