Okay so just for reference on where we were at before we started this…
Gavin will be 5 months old tomorrow.
Up until now, he has taken basically every nap in our arms or for 30 minutes max in his crib.
Nap and bedtimes have always been a battle – he fights sleep terribly.
During the night he was held a lot or co-slept on the bed next to me. Chris and I hadn’t slept in the same room since Gavin was born. He was typically also up every hour or so at night, with the longest stretch ever being like two hours.
I was so scared to start sleep training him, just because I knew how much he seemed to hate to sleep and how much crying was already involved. I felt like our days just revolved around his sleep.
When we finally caved and decided to work with Chrissy on sleep training Gavin, I was super excited, but also really scared. Here is how our first day went….
March 7, 2019
The goal for naps on day one was just to get him as much sleep as possible. I put him down every 1.5 hours between naps and got him in his crib for nap one (31 minutes), held him for nap two (1 hour 30 minutes), got him in his crib for nap three (31 minutes), and held him for nap four (38 minutes).
We had two hours of awake time before bed, did his bedtime routine (bath every other night, jammies/lotion/diaper change, nursing, books, and a couple songs), and then just PUT HIM IN HIS BED AWAKE. Just typing that gives me chills, because it was terrifying. Before, we would only attempt to put him in his crib dead asleep, because it was the only way he would stay.
A general breakdown of our first night:
Put him in his crib at 7:09pm (2 hours 9 minutes after last nap)
Had to set our first timer for 10 minutes just 30 seconds after we left the room when he started screaming
Cried really hard for 10 minutes, and then I went in to soothe at 7:19 – patted his butt (he sleeps on his tummy), put the paci in, and shushed him for 5 minutes
He calmed right away but cried as soon as I left
Did the same thing again for 10 minutes and then Chris soothed for 3 minutes
There was always variability in his crying (crying harder and then softer or not at all), but when he was crying it was HARD at like a 10/10
Set a 15 minute timer next and he really started to calm for 20-30 seconds at a time. Also started to suck on his fingers and find his blanket to hold.
Went in to soothe at 16 minutes, put the paci in, and he was asleep at 8:01pmSidenote: I was in the bathroom with the shower on and a glass of wine so I couldn’t hear him for the most part – Chris watched him on the monitor and listened to his crying (bless him)Slept until 10:42pm so Chris fed him a bottle of breastmilk and put him back in cribWoke up at 1:10am because he had pooped, put the paci back in and he fell back asleepWoke up at 2:15am, so I nursed him and put him back in the cribWoke up at 5:00am and only ate on one side before he was totally passed out, then the same thing again at 6:30amWoke for the day at 7:30am
I know that sounds horrible to some of you, but for us it is major progress! And with less crying than I anticipated.
I have a little bit more faith now than I had before we started this. But don’t get me wrong – it is SO hard. I really don’t think I would have done it if I wouldn’t have had the support of someone to talk to about it and keep me accountable. I’m excited to see what the rest of the two weeks brings and can’t WAIT for the crying to subside. I still can’t imagine a day where I can just give Gavin a kiss and put him in the crib and say goodnight, but I hope it will become more of a reality over the next few days.
And here is a cute picture of my boy, just because. 🙂
Total cry time: 47 minutes
Total awake (happy) time: 9 hours, 19 minutes
Total sleep time: 13 hours, 54 minutes (broken for feedings)
Comments