Monday, May 21, 2012

sleep training journey

Well, I decided that after 10 months of me not sleeping more than 4 hours at a time...it was the perfect time for Noah to learn to sleep through the night.  :-)  I love him, but I know I can love him more if I have better sleep &  I know he can be more loveable if he has a better night of sleep.

Since starting the new method he has : (1) napped much longer than usual (2) eaten more during the day (3) used less diapers (4) woke up fewer times in the night and (5) begun to fuss himself to sleep in under 15 minutes.

I LOVED the book, The Happiest Baby on the Block by Dr. Harvey Karp.  In fact, if there were only one book I could have had when Noah was a newborn it would have been this one.  It was magical & really helped us get through those first 5-6 colicky months.  So, I really wanted book two, The Happiest Toddler on the Block, since Noah was nearing the one year mark.  I went to Books A Million and they didn't have it.  So, I decided I would order it online, but in the mean time I wanted something...anything really...I am just so tired.  :-)

I picked up a copy of The Sleep Easy Solution, by Jennifer Waldburger.  I really only chose this book because it was the only one that addressed teaching sleep methods once your child had a few months behind him.  Most of them started at birth & assumed you had been solely following their methods.  Well, we didn't "baby wise" and we hadn't been doing anything really...other than responding to crying with night time feedings!  Oh the things you learn as you go!

Anyhow, I cannot stop reading the book.  It is filled with real, practical, in the moment advice and information.  Tonight will be night 4 and already Noah has dropped one wake time and is doing so much better through out the day.  He has dropped a nap & is sleeping longer in the two naps he now has.  He eats better, plays better & is more alert.

I think we will be done weaning night feeding in the next 3 days and I am eager to see what happens.  Could I really be about to sleep through the night?!?  I am excited just thinking about it!!

Oh, and here is Jennifer Walburger's website, sleepy planet.   Lastly, I would love to hear your stories and/or advice on all night sleeping!!

2 comments:

Mom in Limbo said...

I used the Ferber method starting at 4/5 months. It was tough, but both my kids were sleeping through the night at 6 months. The main idea is not to jump at ever cry and that with a brief amount of tough love and consistency (don't give in, cause it just confuses them), they should be trained really fast. And if you ever doubt yourself, remember how extremely important it is that he gets close to 12 hours of uninterrupted sleep at night. He needs that (so do you!). Also...he's adorable!

Elizabeth said...

Hi Amanda, joining you from Tesha's Treasures. I just wanted to say thank you for posting pictures of your sweet boys. I didn't get to meet my son (lost at 19 weeks), so I don't know what he looked like. Thank you for sharing this little glimpse...

Much Love,
Elizabeth
http://heplerfamily.blogspot.com/