Sleep Training

The first few nights of moving Makenzie into her own room were very difficult. She had slept in a swing since she was born and was now stationary. Plus she had never been able to sleep longer than a half hour for naps and about two hours at night because of her stomach pain and reflux. Learning to sleep in her crib was the task at hand last week. She actually did better than I thought she would. But she fought tooth and nail going to sleep. Then she'd wake up every few hours. I'd have to rock her completely to sleep before she'd stay in her crib. There's no way I could do that every night (I really didn't mind. I know one day she won't want me to rock her). She would cry for an hour and a half while I rocked her. Then she'd fall asleep, I'd lay her down and she would wake up a few mintues later crying. I made many trips up the stairs and put many miles on the rocker. I tried letting her cry one night and she ended up throwing up after two mintues. After doing some research on sleep training I read that you aren't supposed to let reflux babies cry like that for that reason. Sorry baby! In addition, I couldn't handle her crying. It broke my heart. I knew there has to be a better way to do it.

I found a method specifically for babies who like to be rocked to sleep and sleep next to you. It's Dr. Sears' no cry sleep solution or something like that. You rock them almost to sleep. Then lay them in the crib. Keep your hand on their chest with a tiny bit of pressure until they go to sleep.

The first night was amazing. There were no tears what so ever. Granted, I had to do it a few times and stand there for about 10 minutes but she went right to sleep. She woke up a few times but I just put my hand on her and she went right back to sleep.

The second night went even better. She was even able to put herself back to sleep at nap time. The time I have to stand with her is getting less and less. The trips in after she goes to bed are becoming nonexistent. Last night she went from 9:00 pm to 7:00 am. She was awake at 1:30am but put herself back to sleep. I really didn't think it would only take a few days to get this down. I am so proud of her!! It can be done without letting them cry!

I love this website:
http://www.askdrsears.com/
This is my parenting style. It's attachment parenting. If you don't like it, don't do it.