Sleep Study: One Week Report

We've been doing the sleep training for a week now...no miracles to report, but some progress has been made.  Most notably, she's sleeping in her crib for ALL naps and for 95% of the night.  She's still waking up 2-3 times per night, and most of the time I can get her back to sleep quickly by just putting my hand on her chest for a minute or two.  However, that last wake up around 4-5am is a killer...she doesn't want to go back to sleep in her crib, but she isn't ready to be up for the day either (and neither is mommy).  So we fight it out upstairs for awhile and then I give in and bring her into our bed.  Sigh...still though, I'm trying to be positive about the progress we have made and hopefully, will continue to make.  She's been teething, so I know that can also play a role in the night wakings.  From what I've read, so can growth spurts...thus, without being sure what is causing the night wakings, we are left to just press on and hope it gets better.

A quick rundown for those friends who have asked about specifics to this baby whisperer method...the pick up/put down method should be a last resort.  After over-using this method last weekend, I re-read the baby whisperer book chapters regarding sleep (as well as spending a good deal of time on the babywhisperer.com forum), and the correct way to go about this is more along these lines:

     - before any nap or night night time, you should have winddown time first (talking softly, bathtime, reading books, rocking, dim the lights, etc.)

     - then when they are ready, pick them up and hold them vertically facing you and walk around, sway, or just stand still (the idea is not a lot of movement, so no jiggling or bouncing)

     - stay this way until they start to nod off and you can sometimes feel their body jerk when they are just entering sleep stage (but not asleep yet!)

     - then lay them in the crib while telling them that it is time for night night (or time to go to sleep or whatever phrase you choose)

     - place a hand on their chest until you think they are asleep

     - stay in the vicinity until you are sure they are really asleep

     - if the baby startles awake, you just place a hand back on the chest and tell them it is night night time

     - if they cry a little, do not pick them up; you should be able to get them to settle with touch and words of assurance, such as "it's okay millie, we're just going night night".  however, do not say it in a poor baby type of voice; keep it matter-of-fact, but not harsh.

     - eventually, you shouldn't have to use the hand on the chest or the words of assurance

That's it...then...if this doesn't work and the crying escalates, that is when you start the pick up/put down method.  Aside from the first 2 days when I was using pick up/put down unnecessarily, I haven't had to use it but maybe once or twice since then.  Milla usually settles right down, if we have an appropriate winddown period.   And like I said earlier, other than when she wakes up around 4-5am, she is super quick to go back to sleep with just a hand on the chest.  I'm going to count that as a win for us.  Our next goal is to have her put herself back to sleep on her own...and also, if she could put the pacifier back in at night, that would be awesome.  She puts in her paci by herself all day long, but for some unknown reason, when she's in her crib, she forgets she can do this on her own. 

Other than the sleep training business, we've had a pretty good week.  I know this isn't the most joyous of posts, but it's sort of a big deal in our household at the moment.  ;)  The next time I post, I promise to make it more fun!  Happy Friday!