Sleep Training Day 3
So it’s now been 3 days of the Sleep Training, and by gosh it seems to work! We’re taking it in stages right now, getting Juliette used to falling asleep on her own before we remove the night-time feedings.
The first night Juliette woke up as before at around 11 pm when Becoming-A-Mom went into the bedroom, then at about 2 am, then 4:30 am, then about 6 am. Each time Juliette woke up Becoming-A-Mom picked her up and let her nurse but not fall asleep. She put her back in her crib and talked to her until she fell asleep on her own.
The first time it took about 15 minutes, then the next time about 10 minutes and the last time less than 5 minutes. It’s working!
The second day things got better – she fell asleep after less than 20 minutes of crying, and at night after each nursing she fell asleep after only a few minutes. Both Becoming-A-Mom and I are astounded how quickly she’s learned to change.
Now the next step is to eliminate the feedings at night. We’re not as confident about this as the falling asleep on her own, but are planning to try giving her a bottle with water when she wants to nurse. The theory is that if she knows she’s only going to get water she won’t bother. We’ll see how that works.
Nap times in the day are a bit difficult but improving. Today I sat with her to get her to sleep for her morning nap. That was a bit of a trial, as she kept sitting up and pulling herself up to stand in the crib. I sat there reading the newspaper out loud, but she seemed to think it was a game and would not lie down to sleep.
Finally, after about 10 minutes of her standing and sitting up I started to lie her back down every time she sat up. Then every time I saw her attempt to sit up, I’d gently push her back into a lying position. No, this did not go over well and I was treated to howls of displeasure. But I persevered and after about 10 minutes of this Juliette finally understood that I wasn’t going to let her sit or stand any more.
Her crying dimished to the “you’re so mean!” grumbly stage, then she rolled on her side and with one last “Wah!” she suddenly fell asleep.
Not quite believing it wasn’t a trick, I stayed in the room for another 5 minutes reading the paper out loud. When she didn’t stir, I carefully folded up my paper and tip-toed out of the bedroom feeling like someone who just survived a plane crash.
It was only 1 pm. Darn, too early for a scotch!
