Something snapped when we moved back to Texas. In Doha my lovely baby was only waking up 2-3x at night and would take 3-4 naps per day, including one giant 2 hr. nap in the middle of the day. Between the travel to the UK, the weeks back in Doha getting everything moved our of our villa, then in a hotel in Doha, then in a hotel in Houston, then again in an apartment, we squarely screwed up the kid's sleeping habits. He started waking up 5-6 times a night and I became a complete zombie. I also knew that he would roll over eventually and needed to break him from the swaddle. Thankfully we had a 4 month checkup with the pediatrician and she simply told us he doesn't need to eat that frequently at night, he doesn't need the swaddle and it was time to sleep train.
I bought a book that my friend Carolyn had been pushing on me (The SleepEasy Solution) but unfortunately it was still en route when the ped sprung this direction on us. Carolyn gave us a crash course over Skype and we tried the techniques (plus those at the Troublesome Tots website) that night with amazing success. SleepEasy Solution is a cry-it-out method and fortunately we have not had the tears that the book prepares you for. The gist is that you have a nighttime routine (winding down with bath, story, etc.), remove all sleep associations (like rocking or nursing to sleep) and let the baby learn to settle themselves to sleep by crying it out. Our lil' self soother is a thumb/finger sucker which makes the settling down bit quite easy on us (no pacifiers!). You check back in at specific intervals when the baby is crying (5, 10, 15 min. to start, then 10, 15 + on subsequent nights) but you don't touch the baby or pick him up.
There is also a nap component. For babies 4-6 months old, the book suggests 11-12 hrs. of night sleep and 3-4 hrs. of nap sleep. The first period of wakefulness is 2 hrs., then nap 1. The next period of wakefulness is 2.5 hrs., then nap 2. The next period of wakefulness is 2.5 hrs., then nap 3. The next period of wakefulness is 2+ hrs. and lasts until bedtime. Sample schedules are on Sleepy Planet's website. Another component is that the baby gets 1 hr. of time in the crib, regardless of how long they are asleep, so that they learn to soothe themselves back to sleep.
We have had amazing success. The book really had me prepared for nightmarish battles of tears and I'm sure some folks have those results. Fortunately we magically have a child that we can now put down in a crib, walk away and he sleeps within 5 min. with minimal fuss. Not only that, he sleeps through most of the night, waking generally once around 3-5am and settling himself back down. After nearly 4 weeks since we started, we've only had to go into the room to settle him at night maybe 3 or 4 times. He truly went from waking/nursing 5-6x/night to not waking and not nursing at all at night in less than a week.
Naps are a bit more tricky. His nap times vary based on when he wakes up, but we are pretty consistent with the 2/2.5 hr. timing and like magic again, he goes right down. The only thing we are really struggling with is trying to lengthen his naps because he often wakes up after 45 min. and spends the rest of his crib time sometimes just chilling and other times wailing his head off. Sometimes he falls back asleep like he should, but it's rare!
Not everyone agrees with the cry-it-out approach, but the techniques of the book have truly worked for us. I am no longer a zombie. I have a fairly predictable schedule every day which makes it incredibly easy to run errands and go to lunch because I know how much time I have to work with once he wakes from a nap. I am so glad we tackled this when Adam was young and even though I know we will have hiccups ahead (like when he starts teething or is sick), I think we are truly on the road to sleep success.
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