Good Morning Everyone,
I thought I would write a quick post to let everyone know that I finally started wi/wo last night.
For those that aren’t familiar with little Cole and I…he has never been a good sleeper. I have done sleep training on and off for just over a year now (He’s 16 months old). His sleep cues have always been subtle/none existent. Fortunately for me, regardless of the sleep he gets he’s a happy little guy. I went back to work May 1…and he was sleeping through the night for a whopping three weeks prior to that. Then my new daycare lady let him CIO for naps (I got him outta there pronto!) and he went through major SA and was sick for 10 straight weeks. Add to that the heat (air con doesn’t reach his room), potential teething, routine disruptions with vacations…and well, you see why I’ve put off sleep training. Is it possible I respect his feelings too much?
Cole has been going down in my arms each night around 8:30, 14 hours after waking (to the minute). He wakes anywhere from 11:30pm-1:30am and we go on the couch the rest of the night (a bad habit I created because I was desperate for sleep going back to work). This habit has been instilled for 4 long months now. I just have to say I am so proud of my little man…here is how our night went:
I wanted to get him in his crib for 8:00, aiming for 8:30 asleep. Things went a little wonky with dinner with Cole being unusually fussy, not wanting to sit in his chair, not able to entertain himself while I got dinner ready. I was worried I wouldn’t even get to the sleep training dinner was taking so long! Anyway, I finally got him in his crib by 8:30. I told him he had water in his crib, and that I wouldn’t be taking him out until morning. Told him I loved him, gave him a big hug and walked out.
Did 15 min.of wi/wo. He was clinging to the side of the crib where our chair is….it seemed to upset him more when I would come in, so I tried 20 min. of talking to him from the hall. He would calm, then escalate, calm, then escalate…I went in a few times in those 20 minutes. He wouldn’t let me lie him down though…still clinging to the crib. Finally there was a time when he would let me lie him down…and I left, went right back in, laid him down, and left, right back in and on the third time he conked out.
45 minutes total. Not bad!
Woke around 11:15, walked in once and laid him down.
Woke 1:15, gave teething tablets (just in case), offered water (refused), did wi/wo a few times and back down (total of 10 min.)
Woke 3: something, 2 wi/wo
Woke 4:50, 5:10, 5:30 each time 2 wi/wo then finally slept until 7. When DH went to get him at 7 (Cole woke on his own), apparently when DH walked in the room Cole laid down on the crib! LOL.
So, there is day 1! I’ll keep you all posted on our progress….
