Friday, February 29, 2008

Sleep Training

My way of sleep training has absolutely NOTHING to do with letting the baby cry herself to sleep. I know many, many parents who swear by this method, but it goes against every instinct I have as a mother, and I tend to trust my instincts.
My "sleep training" involves making night and day VERY different for TT (I did the same for Boo). Nighttime is always in the crib, feedings always in the rocker in her room. It's dark with very little interaction. Daytime is always more relaxed. Feedings, naps, etc happen where ever they happen. It's not always dark or quiet. I truly believe this helps them sleep through the night sooner. Both my girls slept 7-8 hours in a row by 3 months. I mention this because at 4 am, TT was laughing and smiling at me, and it was VERY hard to not smile right back. She was just being so yummy!
Also note, however, that I'm not bragging about my bedtime methods. My problem lies with when they reach the age of manupulation... I had to stay in Boo's room until she fell asleep, often laying on the floor and dozing off myself. Bedtime became a real issue for Boo once she stopped nursing at 16 months, partially because I allowed her to nurse herself to sleep, and lasted until her 2nd birthday. A mistake I hope not to repeat with TT.
TT does things differently than Boo, and doesn't often fall asleep while nursing. She does, however, want to be held while drifting off. I'm trying to follow the "experts" advice, and lay her down before she's fully asleep. It works most of the time. She also loves being swaddled, and the paci is a must right now for sleeping.

3 comments:

mi said...

At 2 1/2 Logan is still a challenge at night. He's just so sweet and delicious, it's hard to put him back to bed without much interaction. If he waits until at least 5am, he gets to crawl into bed with me. That's about as tough as I could get with him. Before 5am though, I'm just tired and onery enough to plunk him right back. With a snuggle and a kiss, of course. TT's 4am flirtation would be irresistable!

Anonymous said...

Too funny~ I just wrote about sleep issues with Little Man. Sounds like you have a plan- good luck!!!

Six Little Feet said...

That is great. I can never understand why a parent would want a baby to cry himself/herself to sleep.

When my DD waked up in the middle of the night I am secretly excited becasue we get some one on one time. It is peaceful and perfect.