Well, last night I decided to start sleep training with Jacob to see if we could finally work towards getting him to sleep all night long. For those who don't know, sleep training is basically letting your baby "cry it out" until they learn to put themselves to sleep. This keeps them from constantly relying on their parents to get them to sleep night after night. The book I am using is called The Sleepeasy Solution, and it involves several methods to get your child to fall asleep and stay asleep, including slowly weaning them off of night feedings, setting up a predictable bedtime routine, and creating a good sleep environment. Originally I planned to wait another week, but for whatever reason I just decided to go ahead and start this weekend. I am just sick of being so tired and never knowing if he will fall asleep easily or how long he will sleep.
Anyways, last night began our adventure, and I was very nervous about starting the whole process. The book states that babies may cry for up to an hour the first night, and I was expecting the worst based on Jacob's struggle with sleep. I went through our sleep routine which involved a bath (this will only every other night), a diaper change and pajamas, reading a book with Mommy, and a feeding. The hardest part is that I wasn't supposed to let him fall asleep while feeding, because the book said it would make it harder for him to fall asleep on his own and possibly cry longer. The whole time I fed him I was moving his legs, rubbing his belly, and doing whatever I could to keep him awake. He was not very happy about this, because he wanted to fall asleep like usual. After he finished and fussed for about a minute he was calm while I burped him. Then came the time to lie him down and leave. I gave him lots of kisses, turned on his sleep sheep, and left the room. He was totally calm. I went in 5 minutes later to check on him, and he was just lying there sucking his thumb. I then had to wait 10 minutes to check on him again, so I washed some bottles to distract myself and when I went back in he was asleep! I could not believe it. He slept until about 10:05 and then woke up crying. Josh checked on him, since I was trying to go to sleep, and I guess he kept crying off and on for 30 minutes. That was the only crying he did all night. Josh and I fed him according to the book's directions, and he went straight back to sleep each time.
According to the book, since we laid him down at 8:00 his wake time should be 7:00 unless he sleeps later on his own. At about 6:40 I heard him wake up on the monitor and just make noises. He started crying about 5 minutes before wake up, but the book said not to get him up early. So I just waited the 5 minutes, went in and gave him hugs/kisses, and then gave him his morning feeding. I was so proud of my baby!
Now that the first night is over, we are supposed to start working on his naps today and then resume the same bedtime schedule tonight. The book said naps are much harder, usually, so I know that it could be a rough day. I'll keep you posted on how the first full day goes!
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