Sleep Training Update
The first night she was up roughly 30 times. It was ugly. I almost stuck her in the swing just to get some sleep. But I knew if I did the next time we tried to transition her would be the same. So instead, I rubbed her belly, gave her back her paci and climbed back into the daybed in her room. I maybe slept two hours that night. I was too tired to even do graduated extinction. I just did what I could (outside of picking her up and nursing/rocking or co-sleeping) to get her to stay in her bed and sleep. I am sure it was just as hard for her to be in a regular bed as it was for me to have her be there.
The first day was rough. I almost threw in the towel. I cried three times. And that was just during one Ferber-driven nap. By the second nap of the day, she went down and made little to no noise. I thought it was a success until she woke up after 35 minutes. Same thing for nap three. Bedtime went so much better. She only woke up twice and I felt comfortable enough with taking her out of her crib to feed her. Both times she went back to sleep with ease.
Today is officially day two. She napped once in her car seat while we were out and about this morning. When we got home, I focused on keeping her part of the activity going on as much as possible. When nap time came, I put her in her sleep sack and she went to bed with no fuss. Peanut slept for almost two hours. I kept going in to check on her because she was so quiet.
I have no doubt tonight will be the same or better than the last.
If I could go back and do it again, I would have transitioned her to her crib so much sooner. But she's my littlest and, likely, my last. So I tried to soak in as much of her newness as I could. She seemed to little to be in a big girl bed, in her own room. And after a while, I got used to hearing her little noises at night and I needed her to be there next to me making them.
Isn't that the way sometimes? We need them more than they need us. The irony of motherhood.
I miss waking up before her and being able to watch her sleep while I lie in bed. But seeing her face light up when I come to get her out of her room has been a good trade-off.
