Sleep Training

Sleep Training

     Hey guys today's post s going to be about one of the most terrifying things to me as a new mom, sleep training. When I first heard of sleep training E was about 3 moths old, and it was from my mom who fully believed in the cry it out method, which terrified me. How could I possibly leave my tiny new baby alone to cry until he gave up on me coming to get him and fell asleep. So I ignored her and E horrible sleep habits continued. Up until E was about 3 1/2 months old he slept in a Rock n' Play right beside my bed. I loved that thing, it made it super easy to put in a pacifier and gently rock him back to sleep. By 3 1/2 months E was getting to long for it and trying to roll over in it so it was time to make a change. I tried rocking him to sleep then gently laying him in his crib which sometimes worked but most of the time didn't and he would inevitably end up in the bed with me and S by morning. When E was about 4 months old I gave up on the crib and decided to try cosleeping. Co-sleeping made getting to sleep so much easier but by morning my back was stiff and sore from staying tense all night afraid I'd roll over on the baby. We co-slept for about a month before S and I got really exausted from sharing the bed with the baby, so at 5 months old I decided he needed to be sleep trained.

     Night One

At 7:30 p.m. our night began by feeling E his last jar of baby food for the night. We then gave him a bath around 8 and made a warm bottle for him. We all three laid in our big bed and give E his bottle and read him a few bed time stories until 9. At 9 we gave E a bunches of love and laid him in his crib and S and I went into the kitchen (right outside his room). 9:01 E is screaming bloody murder and I'm already crying. We agree to give it 5 minutes then go in and check on him. 9:06, still screaming. We go quietly into his room and I roll E back onto his back and rub his belly. He never quit screaming. After about 5 minutes of rolling him back over and trying to soothe him We gave up and went back into the kitchen. I decided our best option was to just let him cry it out because seeing us was just making it harder for him to accept we weren't going to pick him up. 9:30 E is completely asleep. He cried for about 20 minutes which was the longest 20 minutes of my life. The something miraculous happened. He slept through the whole night, for the first time, ever. 

     Night Two 

We followed the same bedtime routine as the previous night. At 9 we put E in his crib then went into the kitchen. He immediately started screaming. 9:15 E is sound asleep. 

Each night it got easier leaving him in his crib and his cry time got shorter. By the time E was 6 months old he went to sleep with no more than 5 minutes of crying and slept through the night until about 7 a.m. Sleep training isn't for everyone or every baby but it really worked for us and has made a world of difference in how we all sleep.