I think it all started after weaning...
I weaned Clark at 14 months old and shortly after he began waking early, around 5 am, and wanting to snuggle with me for an hour or more before waking up. to replace nursing, Clark formed a habit of putting his hand down my shirt to comfort himself. it started off as sweet but, going on 16 months, it's just getting old!
the early mornings lasted for a few weeks and then we had a few normal nights (waking around 6:30-7) and thought the worst was over. boy were we wrong!!
at around 15 months old, Clark just suddenly stopped sleeping through the night! he would wake up around 3 am (sometimes as early as 1:30!!) and would not be able to get back to sleep for the rest of the night!!! this is never something we've dealt with Clark's entire life so we were at a loss as to what was going on or what to do. was he scared? hungry? thirsty? sick?? we had no idea but we tried everything!
we tried not going up right away. we tried going up right away. we tried not going up at all. we were exhausted and so was Clark and he was sleeping so much during the day to make up for all the missed hours at night which was backfiring. we were desperate for answers and some sort of solution. after a lot of research, we finally decided to try something called "progressive waiting," more popularly known as "cry it out."
Dr. Richard Ferber is the sleep guru behind this method. I ordered his book, "Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems," but in the meantime we looked up his progressive waiting schedule so we could try it out right away.
the most important thing about Dr. Ferber's method (that we were doing wrong before!) is leaving the room before your baby is asleep. this is so so so important!!! it's hard, especially when Clark was used to having us there while he fell asleep. but your baby will quickly get used to it and then when they wake up throughout the night, they will be able to put themselves back to sleep instead of wondering where mom/dad went.
the first night was the hardest. he went down pretty easy and we hoped he would magically just sleep through the night like he used to. when he woke up at 2 am though, we decided to give the method a go. first I went in right away (even though we haven't read the book yet and aren't sure if you're supposed to go in at the first cry or start after the first cry...we just feel better checking on him right away and making sure there's nothing wrong). I gave him his blankie, laid him back down, told him, "shhh, it's night night. it's okay. I love you." and then left. he cried right away of course and I waited 3 minutes before going back in and repeating the same thing. I repeated it again after 5 minutes, 10 minutes, and 12 minutes. before I went in at 12 minutes, his cries started to die down a little and were occurring less frequently. after the 12 minute check, he only cried for a few minutes and I never had to go in at the 15 minute check.
the next night we did the same thing when he woke up but it all went much faster! on night two, I went in after 5 minutes of crying, then again at 10 minutes and he never made it to 12! on night three, I started at 10 minutes and only had to go in the one time! he put himself right to sleep after I left. he woke up again later that night but before I could even get out of bed he put himself back to sleep ON HIS OWN!!! this is a HUGE accomplishment for Clark, something he hasn't really done since he was like 3 months old. (yeah, go figure, he slept better as a newborn haha!)
this was all about a month ago and since then we have seen a night and day change in Clark's sleeping patterns. putting him to bed used to take anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour, depending on the night. it was exhausting and I dreaded it and hated that it cut into my alone time with Mark. now we have a wonderful little routine down. after dinner, Clark takes a bath, we put on his pajamas, brush his teeth, say prayers, and sit in the rocker where I read him a very specific repertoire of stories (his doing!) - "Caps for Sale," "Baby Faces," "Hugs & Kisses," "Sleepy Time with Peter Rabbit," and his favorite favorite book, "B is for Bear" (it's a touch and feel...he loooves touch & feel books!) after that I turn the lights out and rock him in my arms while singing the same three songs I've been singing to him since he was in my tummy! they are all about Winnie the Pooh - "Pooh Corner," "Winnie the Pooh," and "Little Black Rain Cloud." by the end of the third song Clark is so drowsy, sometimes he does fall asleep, but he will wake back up a little when I put him down in his crib. after that I just leave the room!!! that's it!!!
sometimes he will cry out after 5 minutes or so (we figured out this was due to the AC shutting off while he was falling asleep and waking him), but after I go back up for a few minutes, he puts himself right to sleep. whenever he wakes up during the night, he either puts himself back to sleep or we only have to go up once for a few minutes and then he will fall asleep on his own. sleep has become so predictable and EASY. why didn't we try this method months ago??? I highly recommend it to parents everywhere!!! even if your baby is sleeping fine now, chances are one day he won't be and you will be glad he knows how to put himself to sleep. Dr. Ferber doesn't recommend starting the method until around 4 months of age and we waited much longer obviously but it still worked! we haven't even actually read the book yet...it is so comprehensive and there are all kinds of sleep topics in there we are bound to experience at some point. but for now, the simple progressive waiting schedule was all we needed to get Clark sleeping through the night.
until baby brother makes his arrival in February, we're hoping we all continue to sleep through the night!
No comments:
Post a Comment