Sleep Training: The Journey To Better Sleep

Landon used to go to sleep when he was put down, awake but tired but somewhere between growth spurts and an inconsistent bedtime routine we got lost, and now here we are. He’s about a week shy of turning 8months and its time to get this under wraps!

It’s day one of sleep training..

We started our day at 7am, we played, sang songs and made the most of an early start.

He had his morning nap around 8 and was back up around 9:30. The rest of the day we managed to go out for breakfast and make a few store stops without Landon falling asleep in the car (or before his next expected nap time). Around 12-2 is the window where he will normally fall asleep and he did just that. We both did, because if I’m honest though I normally wake up a bit early, I do go back to sleep when he goes down for his first nap- GUILTY!

But I don’t care, my house is cleaned, bible read, dinner cooked- you can’t fault me! I have things to do, therefore there is sleep to be had.

The rest of the day he was pretty good, no crazy tantrums or spouts or uncalled for fussiness which let me know he wasn’t over tired. He is however barreling a cold and is teething, but still in very good spirits- ugh I just love this kid! Anyhow, later in the evening I expect Landon to take one more nap before his extremely late bed time( which we are working on !)

Around 5-6:30 he is often ready for a 3rd nap and I know what you’re thinking- if he goes for a nap that late how will he go to bed on time, calm down ladies with their sleep trainer masters degree, it’s a cat nap, not anything over 35 mins max, and as I mentioned we’re working on an earlier bed time so don’t judge me, just pray for me (I need it! Lol)

We foolishly started this journey on a Wednesday which meant for us, church ! So even though I would have loved to try and get him down to bed at around 9, we ended up getting home around 10. Since he fell asleep on the way home in the car we weren’t able to get his bedtime routine started right away ( am I the only one that feels weird about giving baby a shower until at least 30 mins have passed from coming outside ?)

So with that, we waited..but then he had a poop explosion so we really wanted to bathe him, but I decided to wait so he was a little cranky, probably overall overtired, hungry and just done ! After a soothing bath, massage, pjs, feeding, songs, and story time with daddy it was time for bed- Wright? Wrong !

So here’s the thing, because of our busy schedules and more times then I would like - late nights out, I never really pushed for an early bedtime with Landon - but now looking back he was probably craving that. I have read that babies require 11-12 hours of sleep, which means my poor peanut has been beyond deprived with his 12am drift offs after being milk drunk attached to me for quite some time. Needless to say that even with a perfect wind-down period that began around 10:30, Landon still wasn’t ready to go to bed at 12.. he was wild. Jumping on the couch, being silly, crawling off the couch and onto the floor (yes, he’s learned how to get off safely and independently). I was feeling slightly full in the umm (ahem) booby department and so I decided to give him an extra feeding.

Once he had- had enough I saw his eyes roll back a bit and that was all I needed to see ! I saw the sign and it opened up my mind I saw the sign ! I picked him up and carried him to his crib...

because this was day 1 I knew this wouldn’t be easy so I took a deep breath and put him down. At 1am I wasn’t exactly dying to go to sleep but I was more than ready for Landon to, but he wasn’t sold. He quickly stood up and held onto the side of the crib, smiling- not knowing he was in for an unexpected twist. He sat on the floor and watched him. 5 minutes later I gave him a kiss and said goodnight. He was quiet in his room for about 10 minutes before he started to talk to himself, his talking quickly became screaming (that I sound like I’m crying but I’m really just making noise). I waited 20 minutes like I had read somewhere, went back in for only 5 minutes- not picking him up but talking to him and reassuring him that I am alive and well. It’s now 1:30 and he’s crying, screaming, vocalizations I had never heard from him before are drowning out his white noise machine ..

My heart is breaking but I have to remain strong

It was difficult but I just sat there and kept checking the time, once it was 1:50 I went back in, spoke to him, tried to get him to lay down, rubbed his back..but he still wouldn’t stay lying down, but I could tell he was going to give in soon. Once my 5 minutes were up I was out of there- and to my surprise by 2am after just an hour his cry began to sound muffled (why ?) because he was no longer standing up waiting for me he was now laying down crying into his sheets, and before those tears even had a chance to dry he was out !

Day 1:

Overview

10:30pm bed time routine starts

1:00am In Crib (tired but awake)

2:00am Asleep