I thought our 4 month sleep regression was just a phase. I thought that Carrington, being our "easy baby" would naturally just revert back to sleeping through the night. I even forgave many wakeful nights with each glimmer of hope she would give us that she was ready to sleep all night.
I've been pretty good at fooling myself for the last two months but I know it is time to sleep train my sweet baby girl.
Gulp.
Just like Cooper, Carrington has no problem going to sleep. We sing her a song and put her in her crib awake. In no time at all, she throws her little head back and goes right to sleep.
It's the staying asleep that's the problem.
Up until last night, she'd wake up anywhere from one to four times in the night and I would run in and nurse her and she'd go right back to sleep. It was oh so EASY…but not sustainable.
I'm off work this week, thank goodness, and so we decided to give sleep training a shot. My goal is to hold her off from eating until 4am and then I'll gradually push that out to all night long. Sounds like a breeze, right?
Last night was a bear. I foggily remember something similar with Cooper and also remember it only took three nights. I'll keep reminding myself of that!
Here are my notes. Hopefully I'll only be reporting back to you on this for a couple of days!
7:00pm - Put on PJs, sang her a song and put her in bed.
7:05pm - She talked happily for 5 minutes and then was out.
10:15pm - I always sneak in around this time and feed her while she is still asleep. I remember its called a "dream feed" but I can't remember which book it came from!
11:50pm - Sister woke up crying. I'm feeling confident at this point because I know she can go longer than 1.5 hours without eating! I went in her room, gave her a pacifier, stroked her hair and walked back out.
12:00am - She's more than a little pissed at this point. "I cry, you come and give me milk, remember?!" I went back in, soothed her, gave her a pacifier and walked out.
Between 12 and 2:06am - (Yes, I distinctly remember 2:06am!!!) Kyle and I took turns about every 10-15 minutes soothing her and walking back out. Around 1am we decided not to go in as much because every time we walked out she would just get more angry and it felt as if we were pushing the "reset" button each time we went in. Finally, after about 20 minutes of uninterrupted crying she went to sleep. Break. My. Heart.
4:00am - Carrington woke up and I fed her. This time she slept until almost 7am!
7:00am - Carrington woke up just as happy as a clam! I keep looking for signs of "damage" and "trauma" from last night. None to be found! Ahhh, Mom guilt!
Let me tell you, listening to your baby cry is just about the hardest thing to do. Several times Kyle had to stop me from going in and feeding her. I know this is for the best and we'll all be happier and healthier people with just a little more sleep at night. Please let me remember this in the middle of the night tonight!
Stay tuned for Part 2 and wish me luck!
UPDATE: SEE PART 2 HERE!
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