Sleep Update

The night after we ended Addison's "Sleep Training", she was snarfing up quite a bit during her bedtime story. I couldn't soothe her so after a few minutes, I just put her down in her crib for a moment and then I was going to try soothing her more. Well, there was no need to! Not even a minute after I put her in her crib, she was fast asleep!

She has only napped her crib once before - for about 30minutes. I do put her in her crib almost everyday, but she usually just hangs out in there - looking at her mobile and crib soother. So imagine my surprise that she immediately fell asleep, especially while being crabby!

I always figured the first night we'd put Addison in her crib would be a momentus occassion with a lot of build-up to it. But instead, it was just an unplanned event! She slept in her crib til about 2am when she woke up to nurse. Just having her sleep in her crib from 9pm-2am was enough progress for me, so after I nursed her at 2am, I kept her in bed with us to sleep.

And that is how it has been for nearly the past two weeks! She goes in the crib after her bedtime story around 8-8:30, then wakes up somewhere between 12:30am-2am to nurse and I keep her in bed with us. The best part, is that we were finally able to put the pack 'n play away! So now I no longer have to crawl into bed from the foot of the bed or slide the pack n play out of the way to get out of bed. Our room looks twice as big now!!!

I'm thinking this week, I will attempt to put her back in her crib after her middle of the night feeding and see how that goes.

I will admit, even though Addison sleeping in her crib is what I wanted - I was very sad to see her sleeping in there. It was like she was all grown up - and didn't need to be snuggled up against me to sleep anymore. So, I was actually relieved when she woke up at 2am to nurse.

That is the harsh reality of motherhood...you want your child to grow and mature - but when they do, you wish for those old times back.

Sleep Training

At Addison's 4-month check-up, her doctor said she should be sleeping 10-hrs a night and there's no need for her to be waking up through the night to nurse. He said if I want to nurse her through the night, it's up to me and it's fine - but just that at her age she should be able to sleep through the night. The doctor suggested "sleep training" for a few nights to get Addison to learn how to fall asleep and stay asleep on her own.

So, of course I googled it and here's the method I found!

First, wait until your baby is physically and emotionally ready to sleep through the night, usually between 4 and 6 months of age. Ferber doesn't designate a precise age at which to begin his technique, since it can vary so much depending on the child. If you're not sure whether your baby's ready, you can always give it a try. If you encounter too much resistance, wait a few weeks and try again.
Step 1
Put your baby in his crib when she's sleepy but still awake.
Step 2
Say goodnight to your child and leave the room. If she cries when you leave, let her cry for a predetermined amount of time.
Step 3
Go back into the room for no more than a minute or two to pat and reassure your baby. Leave the light off and keep your voice quiet and soothing. Don't pick her up. Leave again while she's still awake, even if she's crying.
Step 4
Stay out of the room for a little bit longer than the first time and follow the same routine, staying out of the room for gradually longer intervals, each time returning for only a minute or two to pat and reassure her, and leaving while she's still awake.
Step 5
Follow this routine until your child falls asleep when you're out of the room.
Step 6
If your child wakes up again later, follow the same routine, beginning with the minimum waiting time for that night and gradually increasing the intervals between visits until you reach the maximum for that night.
Step 7
Increase the amount of time between visits to the nursery each night. In most cases, according to Ferber, your baby will be going to sleep on her own by the third or fourth night — a week at the most. If your child is very resistant after several nights of trying, wait a few weeks and then try again.

How long should I leave my child alone?
In his book, Ferber suggests these intervals:
First night: Leave for three minutes the first time, five minutes the second time, and ten minutes for the third and all subsequent waiting periods.
Second night: Leave for five minutes, then ten minutes, then 12 minutes.
Make the intervals longer on each subsequent night.Keep in mind that there's nothing magical about these waiting periods. You can choose any length of time you feel comfortable with.

We started this on Friday night, leaving her to cry for 1-minute, 5-minute and 7-minute intervals. After the 7-minute cry-out, I brought her in bed with us, as I normally do in the middle of the night. So not much progress, but I did not nurse her so that was a huge step forward!
Saturday night, the second night, at first seemed to be more of a success! We did 5-minute, 10-minute and 15-minute cry out time. After the 5-minute cry, I put the paci back in her mouth, put my hand on her chest and she fell asleep immediately!
But then after the 10-minute cry it was very difficult to get her to settle down and once I did it only last several minutes and then began the 15-minute cry. Once we tried soothing her after the 15-minute cry, she would not settle down so I took her out of the pack n play and into bed with us. That didn't work so we tried swaddling and other soothing. Then Tim took her into the nursery and rocked her in the chair until she finally calmed down. Then he brought her into bed and she started winding up again, so I nursed her and that did the trick.
I don't *mind nursing her in the middle of the night, most of the time I can actually fall back asleep while she nurses - but like the doctor said, I don't want to HAVE to nurse her through the night. Especially if I ever go back to work, waking up for 2am feedings are going to take a toll on me. My other motivation is to be able to move Addison into her nursery at night. The pack n play has been set-up bedside for four months now and I am getting quite annoyed by it!
This will take awhile, but as long as we are making progress towards something, that's good. Baby steps!!!