So the first day of sleep training we tried was a total failure. We caved and Little didn't get to sleep. A few days later we were ready to try again. I looked up information on "the sleep lady shuffle" and decided to try that. Basically, the first three day, you are right next to the crib comforting baby as needed and even taking them out if their crying becomes hysterical. After those first 3 days you move further away from your baby every three days until you are out of their room. That sounded more like something we were willing to do.
Night 1: A very mad baby. Little was extremely mad the first night. She cried on and off for over an hour and a half. She was used to falling asleep nursing so she couldn't sleep and I suspect she was a bit mad that I was not offering the breast. Both Husband and I were pretty sad to see our baby so upset.
Night 2: It gets worse. Little cried on and off for two and a half hours. Torture. She would lay down in the crib and almost fall asleep and then start crying again. I held her, I rocked her, I rubbed her back, I patted her. Finally she succumbed to sleep. It was an exhausting night for all of us.
Night 3: Almost there! Little fussed for about 10 minutes and then fell asleep. Twenty minutes later, she did it again. No big deal.
Night 4: Success!!!! Little slept through the night!
One note is that Little is waking up around 7:30 in the morning, nursing, and going back to sleep. Technically, most sleep training programs say that until she is ready to wake up, she doesn't get to eat. Its not a big deal to feed her at that time and it seems like a really big transition to go from eating every two hours to not eating for 14 hours so I'm willing to feed her in the morning. Now that she is sleeping through the night, maybe I'll be rested enough to get up and use those hours in the morning for something useful!
I wish that we had sleep trained earlier. Its great to be able to sleep through the night and I'm noticing that all of us are more well rested. Even Little. From everyone I've talked to, the first few nights will be rough but it never takes more than a few days to get your baby (of a reasonable age) sleeping through the night. Yay!
Night 1: A very mad baby. Little was extremely mad the first night. She cried on and off for over an hour and a half. She was used to falling asleep nursing so she couldn't sleep and I suspect she was a bit mad that I was not offering the breast. Both Husband and I were pretty sad to see our baby so upset.
Night 2: It gets worse. Little cried on and off for two and a half hours. Torture. She would lay down in the crib and almost fall asleep and then start crying again. I held her, I rocked her, I rubbed her back, I patted her. Finally she succumbed to sleep. It was an exhausting night for all of us.
Night 3: Almost there! Little fussed for about 10 minutes and then fell asleep. Twenty minutes later, she did it again. No big deal.
Night 4: Success!!!! Little slept through the night!
One note is that Little is waking up around 7:30 in the morning, nursing, and going back to sleep. Technically, most sleep training programs say that until she is ready to wake up, she doesn't get to eat. Its not a big deal to feed her at that time and it seems like a really big transition to go from eating every two hours to not eating for 14 hours so I'm willing to feed her in the morning. Now that she is sleeping through the night, maybe I'll be rested enough to get up and use those hours in the morning for something useful!
I wish that we had sleep trained earlier. Its great to be able to sleep through the night and I'm noticing that all of us are more well rested. Even Little. From everyone I've talked to, the first few nights will be rough but it never takes more than a few days to get your baby (of a reasonable age) sleeping through the night. Yay!
Wow, I can't believe that transformation happened so fast! Way to push through. So proud of you every step of the way!
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