Look at this sweet baby girl WHO SLEPT THROUGHT THE NIGHT! I know! So Exciting! Last Friday at Barnes and Noble I looked at the books you all recommended and decided on Alison's trusted source- Sleeping through the Night by Jodi Mindell. I wanted to do Ferber since my pediatrician recommended it and Alison described Mindell as "Ferber lite" which I appreciated. I want Abby to sleep through the night, but I also want to do it in a way that eases us all into it. I don't want 4 nights of crying to get there.
So, we started doing a bedtime routine on Saturday night. She is pretty clear on what is good to do and what is bad. Marcus and I had some bad habits forming and didn't realize it. Abby has taken to the new rountine nicely. We also made her bedtime much earlier. We were putting her down around 8:00 and now it is around 7:15. 
The book recommends putting them down awake and chosing a time to come back and check on them. At that point, you don't pick them up because it would be like going backward, but you do comfort them. So, I set the timer for 3 minutes. I would go back in and rub her back and sshh her. The book tells you the first night is likely to last 45 minutes and the second night an hour and then it will get better. Our first night was 4 minutes and the second night got worse- it was 6 minutes. Last night I was out and Marcus put her down. It was less than 3 minutes.
The purpose is teaching babies to put themselves to sleep so that when they wake up at 2 AM they can do it themselves without you coming in and rocking them or feeding them. Our goal is to eliminate the middle of the night feeding. Last night, she slept through it! Very exciting for Marcus and I to sleep all night. I'll keep you posted if last night was a fluke or the beginning of the next step for us.
So, we started doing a bedtime routine on Saturday night. She is pretty clear on what is good to do and what is bad. Marcus and I had some bad habits forming and didn't realize it. Abby has taken to the new rountine nicely. We also made her bedtime much earlier. We were putting her down around 8:00 and now it is around 7:15. The book recommends putting them down awake and chosing a time to come back and check on them. At that point, you don't pick them up because it would be like going backward, but you do comfort them. So, I set the timer for 3 minutes. I would go back in and rub her back and sshh her. The book tells you the first night is likely to last 45 minutes and the second night an hour and then it will get better. Our first night was 4 minutes and the second night got worse- it was 6 minutes. Last night I was out and Marcus put her down. It was less than 3 minutes.The purpose is teaching babies to put themselves to sleep so that when they wake up at 2 AM they can do it themselves without you coming in and rocking them or feeding them. Our goal is to eliminate the middle of the night feeding. Last night, she slept through it! Very exciting for Marcus and I to sleep all night. I'll keep you posted if last night was a fluke or the beginning of the next step for us.
3 comments:
I can't believe she is already big enough to sleep through the night!! She's growing up so fast!!
That may be one of the cutest pictures I have ever seen!
My heart is full! I am so glad my advice was helpful. Love you! I am so proud of Abby and YOU. It is just hard to hear your baby cry. . . I am sure 6 minutes seemed like 60. XOXO Alison
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