I'll be the first to admit that I was terrified about the thought of sleep training. Who isn't really? The thought of hearing my baby cry throughout the night makes my heart weep. But the thought of my baby waking up throughout the night for the next year also puts tears in my eyes!
We were very lucky that Blake was an amazing sleeper from the get-go. At 2mo, we tried the CIO (cry it out) method on Blake and he cried for over an hour in our NYC apartment. We flew to his rescue before our neighbors would want to call the super. We thought the crying would wane over time, and he just wailed and wailed forever. The very next week, he surprised us with a full nights sleep, and ever since has been a champion sleeper (7p-8a).
While Emily has been a good sleeper, she has been a lot tougher than Blake. I know I shouldn't compare the two but its hard not to. Up until now, she was waking up 2x a night for feedings. She would nurse for 10m and go right back down. But I would be awake for 45minutes to an hour trying to fall back asleep. Repeat this at 3am and 5am for several months and it can get pretty exhausting.
At Emily's last wellness visit, my first question was "So can we start sleep training yet?" Her doctor said the earliest he recommended was at 4months. Despite the dreaded cries we knew were ahead of us, we decided to pick a weekend and just do it.
Not only were we going to tackle sleep training, but we had to simultaneously move her from the bassinet in our room to her crib. She wasn't a stranger to her crib, it just wasn't where she slept her best. Prior to sleep training, she would take the occasional 45minute nap in there, or hang out in the crib while I bathed Blake. It certainly wasn't a place she had spent 10+ hours in.
After reaching out to a friend of mine who has gone through this before, she recommended moving Emily to the crib and sleep training at the same time. Kill two birds, one stone.
We decided to try the "Ferber Method" which is a gentler way to ease into crying it out. You let the baby cry for timed increments, with each increment becoming longer and longer as the night and days go on. You go in only after you hit the timed increment, and offer comfort. You do not put their pacifier back in, and definitely do not pick them up. You simply rub their tummy, say I love you, go back to bed etc and walk out (in and out in 15 seconds).
After the first few nights of this, I noticed that Emily would start crying even louder after I left, something that they warn you about. Midway through, I stopped going in after the timed increments, and just let her CIO. She was able to put herself back to sleep on her own, which is pretty much the purpose of sleep training.
Here's a quick recap of how each night went. Our goal was to really just knock out the 3am feeding and worry about the 5am feeding later. You'll see though that we were able to knock out the 3am feeding, and delay the 5am one a few times.
NIGHT 1
-In crib 8pm-5am
-Woke up at 3am and we comforted her at the 3min and 5min marks. She fell back asleep before the 10min mark was up.
-Rescued at 5am for a feeding, and back to sleep until 8am
-In crib 8:30pm-5:45am
-Woke up at 3a and we comforted her at the 5min and 10min marks. She fell back asleep before the 12min mark was up.
-Rescued at 5:45am for a feeding, and back to sleep until 8:15am
NIGHT 3
-In crib 8:45pm-5:30am (her nap schedule got all screwed up resulting in later bedtime)
-Woke up at 3am and was about to go in after the 10min increment, but she fell asleep before it was over.
-Up again at 5am, and cried for 30min straight until she was rescued. I was really hoping to knock out this feeding, but that doesn't seem to be working just yet.
NIGHT 4
-In crib 8pm-6:45am
-Woke up at 3:30am and comforted her after 12min of crying. Once I left the crying escalated so I decided to let her CIO until she fell back asleep (this took 45min!)
-Rescued at 6:45 for a feeding and back down until 8am
NIGHT 5
-In crib 8pm-6:15am
-Woke up at 1:45 and cried for 3min before drifting off back to sleep
-Woke up again at 4am and cried on and off for 45min before Brooke went to console
-Fell back asleep until 6:15, quick feeding, then slept until 8:30am
NIGHT 6
-In crib 8pm-6:45am
-Woke up at 4:15am with a quiet cry that lasted less than 5min. Never went to console.
NIGHT 7
-In crib 8:30pm-6:15am
-Woke up at 3am with quiet cry that lasted less than 5min. Never went to console.
-Fed at 6:15 and back to sleep until 8am
I've heard sleep training takes a full week which we now have under our belt. Did it work for us? Well, Emily taught herself how to fall back to sleep without our help, allowing me to eliminate the 3am feeding. I was really hoping she would sleep through the 5am one too. It seems like at this point she is okay delaying the 5am feeding, but not ready to give it up just yet. I suppose its too much to expect her to sleep 8p-8a just yet! A mom can always dream, right?
What's next? Moving Emily out of the bassinet completely even though she takes 2.5hour afternoon naps in there. Hope this chica likes her crib, she's about to see a lot more of it!
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