Day 2 & 3 of Mia's "Go to sleep" Training! - Victory!

Day 2:


By 9pm I had her dressed, nursed and ready for bed.  I knew she was tired because she was yawning these giant yawns over and over again! Totally adorable by the way!


I took her upstairs after she kissed Daddy "night-night". In her room I told her it was time to go sleep, she kissed Mommy "night-night" and I lay her down in her crib. She assumed the tummy sleeping position (aka chest and face on pillow and bum in the air with knees tucked under, lol!) which is her favorite but didn't cry! I covered her up, said "Goodnight" and walked out closing the door behind me.  Which of course was when she started crying!


I stopped myself from bursting back in there and decided instead to go get changed into pajamas and get my bed cleared off (laundry day...enough said), telling myself that if she was still crying by the time I was done, I'd go in and console her before putting her back down again.  I could tell it wasn't an "utter despair" type of cry, but never-the-less it tugs on the heartstrings.


Do you know what sounds scares me more?  Sudden silence!!  Like in the middle of a cry she suddenly stops and is completely silent! Eek! Needless to say I held my breathe for a few seconds and then slowly talked myself back into breathing...I mean there was no gagging, or flailing....nothing that would say she was in distress.  She was just...quiet!  A few minutes later she did make a few fussing noises (which were in a strange way good to hear ;) ) and then fell asleep!  This all took place in about 15 minutes....not bad for Day 2 right?!




Day 3 - Tonight:
Tonight Daddy fell asleep on the sofa after dinner totally worn out, the poor dear. He'd had a horribly busy day at work and had gotten home late on top of that.  I managed to get Jared in bed an hour late, but at least he got to bed in fresh bedding and teeth brushed! 


Then  it was Mia's turn for a diaper change, before bed nursing session and then we waved night-night to a sleeping Daddy (Yes he's still on the sofa, I haven't the heart to wake him yet!) and we went upstairs...


I got a kiss night-night and I said it was time to sleep and that I loved her.  I lay her down on her pillow and she assumed the sleeping position.......


No fussing!


Then I covered her up with her blankets....


No fussing!


So I told her night-night and walked out, giving her a little wave from the door before closing it....


NO CRYING!!  Not a peep at all from her tonight! I wish I had a webcam or video baby monitor so I could peep at her after I leave the room...I'm so proud of my baby girl...she's taking this sleep training like a real trooper!


Yay!!! Thank you SuperNanny! (even though I modified your technique for crib bound kids, um, a lot! lol! )


And now...it's the parent's bedtime....


Night-Night!

Day 1 of Sleep Training!

The baby (17 mths old in 4 days) is finally asleep!

We decided it's time to sleep train, she's no longer a little baby and it's starting to take longer to get her settled at night for bed.  Not a good thing for mommy-daddy time or my sewing time for that matter, lol!

So, loosely following Jo Frost's (the Supernanny) sleep technique, we're introducing her to the fact that when she's tired she doesn't need Mommy or Daddy to PUT her to sleep, she can do it herself if she just settles down, lies down and allows herself to go to sleep.

At 9:10pm (plenty late enough in my opinion) I got her to give us a kiss night-night and took her up to her crib. She has a night-light on the wall at the base of her crib (it's a slight sleigh crib with the short ends being solid, so there's no light in her eyes or anything) but the main light was off and the door was closed, so no light from the hallway to unsettle her either.

She cried and got up, I put her down and told her it was time to sleep, night-night. She cried and took longer to stand up. When she did I said nothing, just lay her back down. Each time i went back to sitting on the twin bed in her room, where she could see me and know I wasn't "leaving her", but i wasn't making eye contact, moving, or talking...just sitting very very still.

Now don't mis-understand me...when I say "she cried" I don't mean in pain, or that absolutely pitiful cry that little ones can make when they're feeling utterly alone and terrified.  No, just that cry that says "I don't WANT to go to bed mommy"...then a little bit of sniffing and watching you to see if you'll pick her up....Then a bit more crying...standing again, I laid her back down again...little more crying, then sniffing and watching me...and then she didn't get up again...just cried, sniffed, listened and watched me...wash, rinse, repeat for about another 20 minutes...and at about 25 minutes, she stopped crying and watching me...she watched the fan...she "knocked" on her crib...

And then she started closing her eyes once in a while...a little more wiggling....a little more eye closing, but a bit more often...and then they were closed for longer periods of time than open....and then she started to doze!  I waited...waited until her hand stopped twitching occasionally... waited until her sucking on her paci slowed so much that I was sure she was drifting deeper into la-la-land.  Then I stood up, a little at a time to make sure she wasn't jerking awake when the squeaking of the floor and creaking and popping of the bed frame....and slowly and quietly I opened the door and walked out, closing the door behind me on a sleeping babe as cute as can be!

And now ladies and gentlemen, it's almost time for my sweet husband to put me to bed as it's past my bedtime as well.  And while I am always finding "one more thing to do" before I let him guide me to bed, I can guarantee I never cry when I realize it's finally time to lay my head down, and sleep....

Good night!