Toddler Sleep Training – I’m a Mother Bear
Earlier in the season, Modern Family did an episode entitled "Up All Night," which included a storyline involving toddler sleep training. Mitchell and Cameron had decided to "Ferberize" their daughter, Lily. Actually, I should say, Mitchell wanted to try toddler sleep training via the Ferber method (from the book How to Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems by Dr. Richard Ferber). Here's how Cameron felt about the idea:
Cameron: Well, Mitchell really wanted to Ferberize the baby.Throughout the episode, as Mitchell attempts to stick with the "Ferberizing" method of toddler sleep training, Cameron continues to derail the program, sneaking into Lily's room when she cries. At one point, Mitchell even catches Cameron holding Lily in the middle of the night as they watch Scarface [apparently the colors and the sound of gunfire soothe Lily]. Mitchell is so worried about Cameron ruining the toddler sleep training program that he even stays home from work one day so that he can prevent Cameron from holding Lily while she takes her afternoon nap, and he puts a nanny cam on Cameron, so that he can see if Cameron is sneaking into Lily's room to comfort her. Eventually, it ends in a tussle as Cameron tries to "rescue" Lily from her crib while Mitchell hold steadfast. Cameron, a former football player, takes Mitchell out. In Cameron's own words, "I'm like a mother bear. When I hear my cub crying, I have to run to her."
Mitchell: Ferberize… It is a method of getting the baby to sleep through the night by, yes, basically letting her cry herself to sleep.
Cameron: Torture.
Mitchell: It's not torture, Cam.
Cameron: It's just hard if you happen to be a person who hates to hear another person suffer.
Mitchell: Or… two people suffer [cut to video of Cameron listening to Lily crying on the baby monitor while he cries along with her].
When it comes to toddler sleep training, I'm the Cameron [though I probably couldn't take my husband out unless my adrenaline was really pumping]. I'm the mother bear who can't bear (no pun intended) to hear my cub crying herself to sleep. I have nothing against people who cry it out or use the Ferber method [which, in all honesty, if you read How to Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems, is not the same as the "Babywise" method of crying it out]. It's just not for me. My husband is a little bit of a Cameron, too, but he's more in the camp of telling me to let her cry it out, while he searches Amazon.com for ear plugs so he doesn't have to hear a peep.
Yes, I realize that sometimes babies have to cry and that toddler sleep training at some point becomes a necessity. But for me, while we have a toddler sleep schedule that works perfectly and everyone's getting a full night of sleep, it's not that important. So for now, I remain a mother bear à la Cameron Tucker, and I don't care who knows it!
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