Hi Everyone,
Let me start off by saying this post is going to be about me helping my child sleep better on a night therefore resulting in a more energetic and happy mammy in the morning......I'm not "sleep Training" my child. I hate that expression, he's almost 12 months old, he still doesn't know what the difference is between yes and no never mind trying to "train" him to be a better sleeper!!
So this is the start of my, probably very long and tiresome, journey to get Mason into a better bedtime routine!
I woke up this morning with a foot in my left eye socket and a twisty baby who was crying because he was tired but wouldn't go back to sleep....it was 5:30am.
I said to my husband "Today is the day", this is all i said to him he understood what I meant.....
I miss the nights when I could put Mason in his cot awake and he would get himself to sleep, I miss the nights when I could come downstairs at 8pm knowing Mason was all tucked up in bed and wouldn't wake again till 7am the next morning, I miss the nights when I could get out my sewing machine and let my creativity bloom ....now its more like give Mason his bottle, hope he falls asleep in my arms so that I can put him in his cot without realising and creep downstairs like I'm in the SAS and NO WAY in ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM make a noise as loud as the sewing machine! I swear to you the dog farted once and it woke him up!!!
He usually wakes up and realises that were not there so panics and sits up in his cot and iv tried time and time again to just put him down and come out but I cant stand hearing him cry the way he does! its not a tired cry its a "please don't leave me mammy!" cry. He will come in our bed sometimes as early as 10pm and that's us not having a proper sleep after that because although he used to sleep really well in our bed with us he now is bigger and moves around a hell of a lot more!!
I know its going to be hard but I must stay consistent with this and see if it works so here it goes!!!
NIGHT 1
5:30pm - Bath time (this is earlier than usual in a hope that he doesn't get hyper like he usually does just before bedtime). Clean nappy and PJ's.
6:30pm- play downstairs with daddy so mammy can have a shower
7:00pm- Play time with mammy
7:15pm- apple and some porridge (to fill his belly)
8:00pm- 8oz bottle downstairs on mammys knee (we would of normally done this upstairs in my room)
8:15pm- fresh clean nappy on
8:30pm- lay down in cot and kiss him goodnight.......
8:31pm- the screaming started....he stood up in his cot wanting me to pick him up so I gently lay him back down and came out the room.
Basically after that I tried to stick the 5, 10 ,15, 20 minute rule where I would check on him after these intervals to reassure him I'm still there.....but I managed to get to the 5 minute one and that was it. I had to hold the tears back myself he was sobbing his little heart out so much so that he couldn't catch his breath and so I thought to hell with this I CAN'T listen to another second of my baby crying this bad! so at 8:45pm I lifted him out of his cot and lay with him on my bed to calm him down. He instantly stopped crying but was still catching his breath, he just stared at me for like 5 minutes holding onto my arm so tight as if to say "Don't leave me mam!" then he drifted off to sleep.
So as I sit here writing this on NIGHT 2 I can safely say I'm not sleep training my child!!! if he wants me to cuddle him to sleep then so be it, if he wants me to bring him into our bed at 2 in the morning then so be it, if it means my baby feels safe and secure lying next to his mammy and daddy in bed then I will take the sleepless, squashed up on the end of the bed, nights anytime!
This technique may work for some parents and it may not work for others, I say do what ever you feel in your heart is best for you and your child, and what ever feels right then stick with that....no matter what ill advise you may get "your making a rod for your own back letting them share your bed!" ect ect!!
I hope this makes any other parents going through the same thing feel better, I feel like you get pushed into thinking you SHOULD have your children in a routine were they sleep in their own beds all night but as we all know not every child is the same and not every family have the same circumstances !. Your not alone in feeling like your failing if things don't go by the book, but just remember the book isn't going to be right for everyone!!
ainsleigh
xoxo
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