Sleep Training

Bragging has bit me in the a** again! My son who started out as a great sleeper, putting himself to bed, now screams for HOURS when put in his crib. There are certain actions that can be taken to be nearly sure bets for getting him to calm down and fall asleep, but they're all on his terms, and in my mind there are certain things that Matt and I get to be in charge of, and sleeping is one of them. And as I said, he WAS a very good sleeper, so I know he's capable of it!

(This is our story, and I am in no way trying to step on any toes or place judgement on how other households handle similar situations. This is something I didn't learn until I was actually a parent. Once I hit parenthood, I understood you do whatever you have to do to make it through the day with your ever-changing baby/child.)

So it was time to take back control, but how?

Upon searching the internet for answers, I ran across a page which suggested The Sleep Sense Program. I went to their website, read through the sales pitch, and thought it sounded legit enough to try. In just two minutes and a minor bank withdrawal, I was all signed up for transforming my sons sleep schedule, hopefully for the long haul.

How we got to this point (IMO): Willing to do anything to get Squeak to sleep without worrying about long-term effects.
 
1. When he wasn't feeling good, I cuddled the crap out of him. What mom wouldn't?!?! And what parent doesn't like watching their baby drift off in to dreamland while lying peacefully in their arms. I just fear it won't be quite as cute after doing so everyday for the next 4 years.

2. I wasn't ready to get up when he woke up, so I would bring him to our bed and let him crawl around until he was ready to take another nap, and then enjoy the snuggle time! Again, nothing like a snuggle bug in bed with ya, but over time he decided that's what he preferred, and each night it seemed to get earlier and earlier that he wound up in our bed.

"Short-term work for a lifetime of great sleeping skills"

"Two weeks of work to get 10 years of great sleep for a child is really just a blink of an eye"

Now, if I would have finished this on Day 2 of Sleep Training when I started it, I would say, "easier said than done lady" about the above quotes from Dana Obleman, founder of The Sleep Sense Program.

90% of babies have a harder time with naps than they do through the night

This is certainly a relief to know, since naps was/is by far our biggest struggle.

It has been a lot of work and has taken a LOT of patience (and volume on the TV) and we're still not done, but now that we're on Day 10 of the program I'm starting to feel pretty confident about Squeak's ability to put himself to sleep, and our schedule. It's actually been a bit of a "sleep training" for both of us, as the program suggests a bedtime between 6:30-7:30pm, as she suggested that most babies/children are going to wake up at the same time every morning regardless of what time they go to bed. We had been consistently putting Squeak to bed at 8:00pm (up until he started to refuse to go to bed and I felt like I was doing him a disservice allowing him to cry in his crib). I decided we would try a 7pm bedtime instead, which got me pretty excited about more "alone" time in the evening, but quickly realized it didn't gain us much, as Squeak didn't necessarily follow the rule, and just started waking up an hour earlier. However, this has been an alright schedule to get used to so I can get a run in before it gets too hot/windy. It's been quite the adjustment going from a 9am-Midnight routine to a 6:30am-10pm routine. I feel Squeak and I are both making pretty good progress though.

And as far as my running is going...I'm really beginning to love it! I always wondered what would possess people to run "for fun." Now I'm one of those people. And I'm honestly not sure I could tell you what "possesses" me to do it.

I'm not sure I'm trying to accomplish any kind of dream, but everyday when I'm out running and thinking of all the other things I could be doing, I realize the run is probably more productive than the alternative (Facebook or some other kind of time suck).

 

 

Dear Sports Bra, thank you for all your support, but your recent poking
is taking the "support" a little too far. Love, Kayla.P.S. I will see what I can do as far as a little surgery for you so we can meet again.
P.S.S. As you can see below, your replacement isn't doing too great either.

 

Between crawling and walking along furniture, he's getting around pretty good these days.

Might as well get all four top ones out of the way at once. (Yes, he's hanging upside down, it was the only way to get him to open his mouth enough for a picture.) Lol.

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