Sleep Training Claire

After Christmas time, we decided it was time to sleep train Claire. We were getting up about every 30 min. with her all night long. Literally! Sometimes if I put her in bed with me it was a little better, but not much! I never thought I would be one to let my baby cry much, but I was at my wits end. I felt like I was turning into a terrible person, and I never had any alone time with Sam. Something needed to change!

In retrospect, I am SO GLAD we decided to do sleep training and so happy with the method we used. I am happy with it because it was quick and effective (not because it was easy--it was really awful that first night).

I am going to record quite a few details of what we did, just for future reference with Claire or future babies I have.

I read "How to Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems" by Ferber. (It was recommended by a family friend who  used it with all of her six kids. I did A LOT of research on other methods, but felt the best about this one.) I read it from cover to cover about a month before we started. I think this was key. I knew I needed to know what I was doing and have a clear plan if I was going to really stick to it. Sam was busy with school, so he didn't read the whole thing, but I dog-eared pages and highlighted the important parts for him to look over so we were on the same page. This was also important so we could be a support to each other!

Our doctor had told us that at 4 months old it was ok to let her cry it out in her bed and learn how to go to sleep, and I am glad we waited until then. She seemed big enough that I wasn't too worried (although it was still really hard), and she was definitely ready to sleep in her own crib and have more room to roll around. At this point, she could also roll over both ways pretty well, so that helped also. She learned really quickly (in one night, really), so I feel like it was perfect timing for her. It's probably a little different for each baby!

What we did (as instructed by the book):

-Established a consistent nighttime routine (bath, bottle, turn on white noise, sing a song, bed) and nap time routine (turn on white noise, sing a song, bed)
-Put her to bed drowsy but awake for all naps and bedtime--left the room to let her learn to go to sleep on her own
-Returned to check on her and reassure her at increasingly longer intervals each night if she was crying (first after five minutes, then ten, etc.) but didn't pick her up/get her out of her crib

The first night was TERRIBLE. She literally cried on and off all night. It was so hard. I cried a lot and prayed a lot. If I would have been home alone I would have given up, but Sam helped me stick with it. I was so skeptical and was ready to give up if the second night was just as bad, but she did SO much better the second night. She still woke about a few time but only cried 5 minutes or less each time and then went back to sleep. It got a little better each night after that! I couldn't believe it! Now, almost two months later, she usually goes to bed at 8:30 and wakes up at 6:30 or 7 with no crying in between. It's amazing! We do have a few bad nights here and there, but it is SO much better than it was before. We are all happier! Claire likes her bed, and I think she's an overall happier baby.