Sleeping Like A Baby

  

Whoever made up this phrase was not referring to a young baby. Well, ok, maybe the first week or two when that's all they do but, in my experience, sleep is hard to come by in stretches of more than a few hours for the next few months. But not anymore! For the last couple of weeks Katie has finally been sleeping. It was a long road but we finally got here. 

Some people may not agree, but I don't think you can spoil a baby under 3 or 4 months old. So, for the first 4 months of Katie's life, that is exactly what I did at night. She would start off in the pack n play in our room, but the first time she woke up I put her in bed with us where she happily cuddled with Mama and nursed as often as she would like. There are several pediatricians that recommend this "co-sleeping" for well beyond only a few months but our pediatrician says she should be able to sleep through the night (6-7 hours) at 4 months so that's when we moved her to her crib. The first night we tried putting her in her room and letting her cry it out all at once and she cried for hours without letting up.  We decided to put it on hold for a while and get her used to her room first. Over the next couple of weeks I went in and rocked, cuddled, nursed her any time she cried at night until she went back to sleep and then put her back down.  (Looking back that is more what I did with Lilli too and she eventually became a great sleeper.) At first that was every two hours but her sleeping stretches did get longer.  Then one day about 2 weeks later I put her in her bed awake and she went to sleep without crying. I knew she was finally ready for sleep training and it was about time because I was exhausted! The people that designed the cry it out method say go in and comfort every few minutes but never pick them up. I always found that too harsh at first so I would go in and pick her up until she calmed down and then put her immediately back in her crib. Some times I'd have to do this 2 or 3 times in a row but the crying never lasted over about 30 minutes. After a couple of days I was able to comfort without picking up and she would go back to sleep right away. I would feed her after she had gone at least a 6 hour stretch the first time because that is how long the pediatrician said she was capable. After 7 days we were on a pretty set schedule of feeding at 8:00, bed at 8:30, feeding around 3:00 and up around 7:00.  That schedule lasted about 3 weeks and now for the last week she's been in bed at 7 and sleeps until 5 or 6 and then back to sleep for an hour or two.  She may still cry during the night but never over a minute so I don't even go in there and I think it's in her sleep. I'm ready for the day when she sleeps till at least 7 am.  If she does like Lilli that should come in the next month or so but I'm not comparing.  With Lilli it took 3 days of sleep training and she never cried again.  We're on week 6 with Katie and she still cries daily even though it's not for long.  No two babies are the same! 

The point of this post is I hope if Lilli or Katie (or anyone else) is reading this when they are trying to get their baby to sleep one day that this helps. I'm sure I'll remember I sleep trained but won't remember details. I know some people don't agree with the cry it out method but both kids are happy and I think it's the best solution to get them to sleep on their own.  After all, A happy (rested!) Mom makes a happy baby. :)