Sleep Training

For about 4 out of 5 nights of the week after my parents left, Logan decided that he needed to get up once every 1-2 1/2 hours and of course, also was taking short naps, as usual. Obviously this made for a cranky baby and a cranky mommy. I know he is getting enough to eat because his old sleeping schedule was waking up twice a night. So since he was turning 3 months old just the day after, I figured we might as well start some sleep training before I completely lost my sanity. I actually started on Thursday with the naps. Nate was home during the day and had class at night, so I figured it would be good to have the moral support. Logan always goes to sleep fine. It's just the staying asleep that's the problem. I decided that if he woke up before he was in his room for at least an hour, I would let him cry until it had been an hour. I didn't get a chance to try this until his last nap in the early evening. He woke up after being asleep for about 15 minutes and he only cried for about 10 minutes, then he put himself right back to sleep! I was shocked! With how stubborn our little boy is, I was sure he would still be crying when the hour was up (which was 40 minutes away). So now that I knew it was possible for him to soothe himself to sleep, it gave me confidence.

My game plan was that I would go to him to feed him the first time when he woke up anytime after 1:30, and I would go to him for the second feeding anytime after 4 (also depending on what time his first feeding happened), then I wouldn't go to him until after 7. When I did go to him, I would go as soon as I possibly can. That way, he'll learn that if mom (or dad) doesn't come right away, then we won't be coming so his crying should be short. So when night came around and I had do this by myself, I at least knew he would settle down since he had already done it during the day, so I just had to be strong. I put him down around 7:30 and by 8:10, he was awake. He cried soo hard! But I knew if I went in, I would sabotage it all, so I just started working in the kitchen so I couldn't hear him as well because it is so hard to listen to that, and half an hour later, I noticed I couldn't hear him crying anymore. He was asleep! This was easier than I thought! Later, he woke up again around 1:00, so I had to let him cry again. I had to wake up Nate so he could comfort me while we waited for him to stop. This time, it only lasted about 10 minutes. Then, he went all the way until 4! So of course, I went in there as quickly as possible and fed him. The next time was around 6, so I fed him, and the last time was around 7:30 so he was ready to start the day! I felt so much better getting just a little bit more sleep.

After that, I won't say that he learned right away how to put himself to sleep, but soon he was back on his schedule of waking up sometime between 3 and 4 and then sometime between 5-6, and then waking up between 7 and 8. There even have been a few times when he only woke up the one time between 3 and 4 and slept all the way until 7!

Honestly, I don't worry about short naps anymore though. Hearing him cry so much at night was enough and I didn't want to hear him cry during the day. So if he ends up having a short nap (which is almost always), it just means I put him down sooner for his next nap. Basically, if he starts being a bit ornery and I know that he's full, then I put him to bed. He did have a few days last week where he had one 1-2 hour nap a day, but it's been a few days since that has happened. I just have an alert baby, and I'm okay with that as long as he is happy.