2 under Two: Sleep Training
Posted by Catherine on August 11, 2010
2 under Two: Sleep Training
I looked in the mirror this morning and realized that the dark circles under my eyes matched the dark clothes I’ve been wearing since I had my baby 5 months ago – black, it’s slimming right? While dark colors help hide the extra pounds I can’t seem to get off after child #2, the dark circles are exposing the fatigue that has been haunting my days and nights. I know that sleep deprivation is a major part of having a newborn, I understand why he wakes throughout the night, and I accepted this phase when I decided to have a child. But when does it end? The pediatrician says that by 4 months my child should be sleeping “through the night”, which means 5-6 hours without waking – not exactly a night’s sleep if you ask me. So if my son wakes every 2 hrs during the night, it’s my problem? Fine, it’s my problem. And I’ve reached my limit, I’ve come to the end of my rope , I’m at the brink – enough. This child will be trained to sleep!
I broke out the multiple sleep training books I’d purchased not 12 months ago while training my first child and began to read – or re-read as you must do with child number two, because you do get amnesia with subsequent children. A quick scan of Dr. Ferber’s book, Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems: New, Revised, and Expanded Edition coupled with Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth provided great ideas I used to form my own sleep program. I’ve found that not one method is wholly applicable.
Yesterday, Day 1 of the sleep training process, began at 9am. BabyBoy woke up at 6:30am and he played and played. I wanted to wear him out. I fed him at 7:30am, but didn’t let him sleep while nursing. At 8:30am, I took him to his room, closed the shades, put on calming music and began to rock him. At first he struggled, but I was persistent. To be persistent and consistent, you must be well rested and therefore it’s best to start the program during the day. I tried to sleep train BigBoy during the night and that was a disaster. I was tired and worn out from a busy day and ended up abandoning my program.
I duplicated the routine for every nap yesterday – play, feed, play, then darkroom, calm music and rocking. What I gleaned from the books was the importance of routine: the child will begin to know what is expected of him based on the cues you provide. The night didn’t go great last night, but I’ve repeated the routine again today and it took half as much time to get him down. So cross your fingers that one day soon I’ll be sleeping “through the night”, because 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep sounds like a dream and the end of dark circles under my eyes.
